Associate Professor Claire Badenhorst (BSc Hons Exercise and Sport Science, PhD) is the Director of Research for Allied Health at the East Metropolitan Health Service in Western Australia and an Adjunct Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University, Australia and Massey University in New Zealand. She is an internationally recognised researcher in women’s health, whose work has advanced understandings of female-specific physiology, iron metabolism, and menstrual health. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed publications, has secured NZ$1.6 million in internal and external contestable research funding, of which $400,000 was for female-specific research, supervised over 40 higher degree research students and received the Massey University Early Career Research medal. She completed a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in 2024, strengthening her expertise in leadership, implementation and organisational strategy, skills she now applies when developing the research strategy for one of Western Australia’s largest public health services. Subsequently, her work now focuses on effective translation of research into practice and policy, and does so through increasing clinician research capability, capacity and strategic partnerships.

 From the period 1996-2006, Dr. Andy Van Neutegem worked in the UK in a number of sport leadership roles including Athletic Director at Bournemouth University and Head of the National Anti-Doping Program for the United Kingdom. He returned to Canada in 2008 to work for Canadian Sport Institute-Pacific as a High Performance Director, undertaking the Lead role in the Performance Readiness Division (Psychology,
Research and Medical Services) of the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific.
Andy served as the High Performance Director of the National Wheelchair Rugby Team which he held from 2008-2017. Andy led the team to a bronze medal in Beijing 2008 and a silver medal in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, a silver medal at the World Championships in August 2014, and a fourth place finish in Rio 2016. In 2014-15, Andy also served in the role of General Manager with Hockey Canada responsible for
the National Sledge Hockey Program, winning a silver medal at the Para-Ice Hockey World Championships.
Currently Andy is the Vice President of Performances Sciences, Research & Innovation with Own the Podium. His responsibilities include overseeing research and innovation for Canadian high performance sport as well as contributing national leadership in the areas of data analytics, return to performance (injury surveillance), athlete and coach well-being, mental health, and culture of excellence.
Dr. Van Neutegem academic background includes Department Chair in the Centre for Sport and Exercise Education at Camosun College, Victoria, Canada. He currently is an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Master’s degree, High Performance Coaching & Technical Leadership. Andy received his Doctorate (2007) in athlete career transitions and athlete maladaptive behaviours from the University of
Southampton, England and was the lead consultant in the development of the national athlete career transition program in Canada, entitled Game Plan. In 2016, Andy was the recipient of the Coach Association of Canada Investors Group National NCCP Coach Developer Award.

Performance Coaching Panel

Behind every moment of peak performance lies a precise blend of preparation, insight, adaptability, and teamwork. In this session, Performance Coaches lift the lid on how coaching drives success in high-performance sport. Through athlete-centred practice, evidence-informed decision-making, performance analysis, and creative problem solving, these experts will reveal how great coaching transforms potential into performance on the world stage.

Prior to taking up his current position as Research Manager at HPSNZ in late 2022, Glenn was a performance nutritionist in NZ for Athletics NZ and Canoe Racing NZ leading in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was also a member of the NZ Olympic team as head of Nutrition for the games which culminated in Aotearoa having its biggest ever medal haul despite the underlying pandemic constraints.

Glenn has also spent a considerable amount of time overseas, primarily in the UK where he worked as Lead nutritionist for the British Athletics team (2009-2013), following by the lead nutritionist role for the LTA (2013-2018). During this time he continued a deep dive into elite Tennis where he was contracted by the ATP to educate elite players worldwide and privately by Andy Murray. Those years proved to be the most successful for Andy Murray, winning Wimbledon for a second time and ending 2016 as World number #1. The British Davis Cup team also enjoyed success during this time by winning the Davis Cup – ending a 79 year wait for success in the global team tournament.

Glenn studied at the University of Otago where he completed a Exercise Science degree (Phed), a Nutrition degree (BSc), followed by an MSc (Dist.) with the topic of his research being comparing acute diet manipulation in Elite Rugby Union players. This work combined with his teaching of Sports Nutrition at the Human Nutrition department was spotted by New Zealand Rugby. Shortly after finishing his teaching and research at the University of Otago he began working for the All-Blacks rugby team (2002-2008) becoming the first Nutritionist to travel widely with the team in a support and research capacity.

Nick Gant is a Professor at the University of Auckland, where he leads teaching within the Department of Exercise Sciences and is Head of School. Dr Gant specialises in Exercise Physiology, Human Neuroscience, and Exercise Nutrition. He works within elite sport, the food and beverage industry, and defence science & technology sectors. Nick serves as the SESNZ-appointed director of the International Confederation of Sport & Exercise Science Practice (ICSESP), representing New Zealand’s academic and professional communities in the development and advocacy of the profession. He is passionate about enhancing human performance & health and is dedicated to training the next generation of exercise scientists and practitioners.

Major Dave Edgar is officer commanding, physical performance squadron for the New Zealand Defence Force. He is an experienced human-performance practitioner, researcher, military officer and endurance athlete whose career spans elite sport, academia and the New Zealand Defence Force.

Originally from Tokoroa, Dave began his professional journey in the New Zealand Army before completing a degree in Physical Education at the University of Otago. He subsequently built an extensive career in high-performance rugby, including five years with the Chiefs, three years with the Samoan national team, and experience in Japan. Across these roles, he worked alongside leading coaches and practitioners including Nic Gill, Warren Gatland and Eddie Jones.

Dave returned to the New Zealand Army in 2016, bringing his high-performance sport expertise into Defence’s human-performance environment. He later completed doctoral study and now serves as Officer Commanding of the Physical Performance Squadron, combining leadership, research and applied performance science to support military personnel.

His passion for human performance extends well beyond his professional career. Dave has represented New Zealand at five Triathlon World Championships and has pursued some of the country’s most demanding open-water swimming challenges, including Lake Taupō, Cook Strait and the Foveaux Strait. His endurance pursuits also provide a platform for raising awareness and funds for young people with dyslexia.

Across sport, research and military service, Dave’s career reflects a consistent interest in human performance, resilience, leadership and the pursuit of excellence under demanding conditions.

Professor Patria Hume ONZM is an internationally recognised sport scientist whose research has made significant contributions to sports biomechanics, injury prevention, concussion and athlete health. Based at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), she has dedicated her career to translating scientific evidence into practical strategies that improve athlete safety, performance and long-term wellbeing.

A leading figure in New Zealand sport science, Professor Hume led the development of ACC SportSmart, a nationwide injury prevention programme that continues to influence safer sporting practices more than 25 years after its introduction. Her research spans injury epidemiology, biomechanics and human performance, with a particular focus on understanding injury mechanisms and improving prevention strategies.

More recently, her work has advanced the understanding of concussion, repeated head impacts and long-term brain health. Through multidisciplinary collaborations, including the Brain-Warrant of Fitness (Brain-WOF™) programme, she is investigating how blood biomarkers, cognitive assessments and individual health characteristics can contribute to more personalised approaches to brain-health monitoring and athlete management.

At SESNZ 2026, Professor Hume will present “Brain Signal to Sideline: Using Brain-Health Research to Inform Athlete Management”, exploring how emerging brain-health research can inform evidence-based decisions in sport while recognising the current limitations of biomarkers for individual clinical and return-to-play decisions.