Summary
Peter Zioupos is a Professor in Biomedical Engineering in School of Engineering in University of Hull. He has held previous appointments in the universities of Cranfield, York, and Strathclyde.
He has an interest in Musculoskeletal science and research and their link to Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Bone physiology, Anatomy and Forensics.
His most recent work was in detecting the arrival of ‘maturity’ in the human skeleton by biomechanical and physicochemical methods (BONE in 2022) and on the influence of varying strain rate on the properties of bone (BONE in 2020). In the latter a paradigm shifting paper he has shown that the fragility of ageing bone in particular is a result of a ductile-to-brittle-transition (DBT) which shifts to lower strain rates for older individuals. The cause of this effect is biophysical in its nature and shows that the so called 'bone properties' can only be understood in the context of its history and its environment both mechanical and ambient. The content and context of this new way of looking at bone fracture as a 'dynamic' material which experiences failure in a 'stochastic' manner were presented in a special issue of the journal BONE https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/bone/special-issue/10VZ6CMZR77 and in a WEBINAR (19 Nov 2020) given in memory of the late JD Currey for JMBBM (J Mechanical Properties of Biomedical Materials) YouTube: https://youtu.be/BuYBImaAc28
He is a Visiting Professor of the Institute of Future Transport & Cities of Coventry University (Nov 2020) advising on automotive related trauma and applications. He was elected a Fellow of the IPEM (Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine) in 2009 of which he has been a member since the late 80s. The IPEM is the official body of all Medical Physicists and Biological engineers in the UK with more than 5000 members in various grades and about 280 Fellows. In 2008, he was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Science by the Senate of Strathclyde University following the recommendation by the Higher Doctorates Committee for his work on ‘Composite aspects of basic bone biomechanics: structure/function relationships and applications'. Over the past 25 years he has published over 100 peer review articles in this specialised topic, gathering over 11200 citations. 24 papers, in particular, are now ‘classics' in the field of basic bone biomechanics with more than 100 citations each.
Peter Zioupos' Hirsch factor (h* index) currently stands at 45. He is listed in the top 1% world ranking of research active scientists https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/2 (link)
Peter is also active in forensics and offers consultancy in legal cases regarding lethal or otherwise trauma, which involves primarily bone injuries. He has developed a patent for the Forensic determination of age at time of death by analytical laboratory examination of bone matrix. He offers consultancy to industry via nanoindentation studies on various health care products, on anodising layers, design of test chambers and testing standards. He has appeared in TV documentaries: one for Discovery Channel on "free fall" accidents, and a second for National Geographic on the circumstances surrounding the unexpected "death of King Tutankhamen". A more recent presentation was in BBC2 the 'AUTUMNWATCH' programme (31 October 2019) where Peter was interviewed on the comparative properties of bone and antler material. A structure/function link was made on screen between the gross anatomy and material properties of these two very different kinds of bone and their function/performance in life.
Peter is very active within the community of the European Society of Biomechanics. He has served as a Vice-President of the European Society of Biomechanics (2012-14) and was first elected to the Council in July 2006. He served as Chair of the ‘Education Committee' (2006-08) and then as Chair of the ‘Meetings Committee' (2008-12).
He is in the Editorial advisory board of the Journal of Biomechanics (ELSEVIER) and the Editorial boards of the Journal of Mechanical Behaviour of Biomedical Materials (ELSEVIER), Journal of Bionic Engineering (SPRINGER), and LIFE (MDPI). He was the guest editor for a Special issue of the 'Journal of Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials' on ‘Forensic Biomechanics’ (May 2014) https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-the-mechanical-behavior-of-biomedical-materials/vol/33/suppl/C which presents a good choice of papers across a range of applications in the field of Medicolegal Biomechanics.
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Peter Zioupos is presently compiling a special issue in LIFE called: "Hard and Soft Tissue Biomechanics ‘In Translation’" to which papers are now invited for submission https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/Y4Q28H3138. The Special issue topics are: (1) Biomechanics of cells, tissues, and biomaterials; (2) Hard–soft tissue interface; (3) Bioinspired 3D printed and electro-spun materials; (4) Imaging-based mechanics of tissues and biomaterials; (5) Deep learning and computational modelling; (6) Other techniques with the potential to complement, inform, and expand knowledge of hard and soft tissues.
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The staff and research fellows of the Biomedical Engineering Research Group welcome any likeminded colleagues who wish to visit, collaborate with us, or use our unique facilities, either through research programmes, exchange visits, or sabbaticals.