Dr Vikranth Harthikote Nagaraja
School of Health & Society
Current positions
University Fellow
Biography
Vikranth obtained his DPhil in Biomedical Engineering (Healthcare Innovation) from the University of Oxford in 2019. His doctoral thesis used motion analysis and musculoskeletal simulation tools to better understand the compensatory movements adopted during prosthetic arm usage, which have been linked to overuse injuries and poor outcomes. Vikranth has a Master’s degree in Product Design from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, where he gained a Distinction.
He worked as a Research Associate on the Wellcome Trust-funded ‘Purak’ affordable prosthetics project at Oxford University from 2017 to 2019. In the subsequent years, Vikranth continued as a Postdoctoral Researcher on the EPSRC- and GCRF-funded ‘Airbender’ project that focused on developing an affordable, paediatric upper-limb prosthesis that can be powered and controlled through the user’s breathing. Further, Vikranth has been a Research Associate with the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development since 2019, where he collaborates with the team to explore sustainable development solutions for achieving universal health
coverage in India.
Vikranth has joined as a University Fellow with the Centre for Human Movement and Rehabilitation at the University of Salford in August 2023. Over the course of this Fellowship, he aims to work on a range of projects at the intersection of rehabilitation technologies and global health, with a particular interest in innovation and personalisation in upper-limb prosthetics (especially for paediatric and female users; activity-specific devices; prosthetic repair and maintenance activities), musculoskeletal modelling, compensatory movements, activity tracking for real-world monitoring and evaluation, etc.
He has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed publications and has presented his research at major international and national conferences. Besides, his work has also led to a few patents.
Areas of Research
Biomechanical Engineering, Human Movement Analysis, Biomechanics, Upper Extremity, Prostheses, Musculoskeletal Modelling, Telehealth, Product Design, Affordable Healthcare
Qualifications
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Master of Design
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Doctor of Philosophy