Skip to content
HEAD Lab — home HEAD Lab
Portrait of Prof Mazdak Ghajari

Research interests

  • Brain injury biomechanics
  • Computational modelling
  • Impact testing
  • Energy-absorbing structures
  • Helmet design
  • Sensing and instrumentation
  • Machine learning

Contact

PI

Prof Mazdak Ghajari

Professor of Brain Biomechanics · Director, HEAD Lab

The focus of Mazdak’s research is understanding the effects of mechanical loading on the brain in sporting collisions, road traffic incidents, falls, disease, and surgical interventions. He uses that fundamental understanding to develop applied solutions that predict and prevent brain injuries. His group works across computational modelling, impact testing, novel design of energy-absorbing structures, sensing, and machine learning.

Selected research contributions

  • Led the development of HIPER, a public cycle helmet rating programme, which reached 80,000+ views in the first two months after launch (hiperhelmets.org).
  • Among the few experts in brain injury biomechanics in Europe to propose a rotation-based brain injury criterion for the new revision of helmet standards.
  • Worked with colleagues in the CEN/TC158/WG11 committee to develop a new headform for assessing head rotation in helmet tests, now published in the EN17950 standard.
  • Leading the biomechanics work for the multi-centre research platform MRC TBI-REPORTER, building a national data hub for traumatic brain injury research.
  • Led the study on head injury risk in e-scooter falls cited in policy documents in Norway, Sweden, and the UK (including the UK PACTS report).
  • Brain injury biomechanics expert on the advisory panel of UK DfT’s Road Accident In-Depth Studies (RAIDS) database.
  • Lab work on brain injury biomechanics modelling has informed World Rugby’s guidelines on return to play.

Roles and affiliations

Director, HEAD Lab, Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London. Director of Postgraduate Studies (PhD), Dyson School (2022–present). Senior Tutor (MEng), 2016–2022. Affiliations: Centre for Blast Injury Studies · Centre for Neurotechnology · Additive Manufacturing Network · Human Behaviour and Experience Network · BSI-P/H6 · CEN/TC158-WG11.

Recent conferences

  1. Short Communication: Computational Prediction of Mandibular Muscle Forces During Sporting Head Impacts

    IRCOBI 2026, Munich

    Proceedings (PDF)

  2. Short Communication: Predicting Sport-Related Brain Injury via Head Kinematics, Finite Element Brain Modelling, and Plasma Biomarkers

    IRCOBI 2026, Munich

    Proceedings (PDF)

  3. Short Communication: A Comparative Study of Injury Risk in Collapsible and Conventional Bicycle Helmets

    IRCOBI 2026, Munich

    Proceedings (PDF)

  4. Short Communication: Does a Chin Bar-Mounted Action Camera Increase Head Injury Risk in Facial Impacts?

    IRCOBI 2026, Munich

    Proceedings (PDF)

  5. Short Communication: Facial Impact Conditions for Assessing Motorcycle Helmets, Informed by Reconstruction of Real-World Collisions.

    IRCOBI 2026, Munich

    Proceedings (PDF)

  6. Short Communication: Non-Uniform Effects of Cerebral Volume on Subject-Specific Brain Strain Across Multiple Head Impacts

    IRCOBI 2026, Munich

    Proceedings (PDF)

  7. Short Communication: Investigating the role of axonal strain in brain white matter damage using biomechanical modelling of normal pressure hydrocephalus

    IRCOBI 2026, Munich

    Proceedings (PDF)

  8. Mazdak Ghajari — Field Measurements of Injury (OA6)

    World Congress of Biomechanics 2026, Vancouver

  9. Deriving representative head impact profiles in contact sports: a shape-based clustering approach

    21st Injury Biomechanics Symposium (IBS), IIHS, Virginia

    Paper (PDF)

  10. A markerless object tracking method for validation of instrumented footballs

    Brain Health in Football Research Symposium 2026, Hilton at St George's Park, Burton-on-Trent

  11. RAIDS and Premier League TBI at the TBI-REPORTER General Assembly

    Fitzpatrick Hall, Queens' College, University of Cambridge

  12. Short Communication: Effects of sex and brain anatomy on brain strain vary across different impact severities

    IRCOBI 2025, Vilnius

    Proceedings (PDF)

  13. Short Communication: Biomechanical modelling of normal pressure hydrocephalus: Advancing understanding of white matter damage

    IRCOBI 2025, Vilnius

    Proceedings (PDF)

  14. Short Communication: Reconstruction of 24 Real-World Motorcycle Collisions to Determine Facial Impact Conditions

    IRCOBI 2025, Vilnius

    Proceedings (PDF)

  15. Short Communication: Motorcyclist facial impact prevalence from novel analysis of Road Accident In-Depth Studies data

    IRCOBI 2025, Vilnius

    Proceedings (PDF)

  16. Effect of brain anatomy on brain strain varies across impact severities

    20th Injury Biomechanics Symposium (IBS)

  17. Development of a novel loss of consciousness injury risk function

    20th Injury Biomechanics Symposium (IBS)

  18. Short communication: Near Real-time Estimation of Strain in Brain Regions using XGBoost Algorithms

    IRCOBI 2024, Stockholm · Best presentation

    Proceedings (PDF)

  19. Short communication: Development of Headforms for Oblique Helmet Testing

    IRCOBI 2024, Stockholm

    Proceedings (PDF)

  20. Short communication: Exploring smart device sensor potential to assess simulated vulnerable road user head injury risk

    IRCOBI 2024, Stockholm

    Proceedings (PDF)

  21. Short communication: Computational Analysis of White Matter Response to Rear and Lateral Impacts

    IRCOBI 2015

    Proceedings (PDF)

Publications

Studying Contact Replays: Investigating Mechanisms, Management and Game Exposures (SCRIMMAGE) for brain health in the Australasian National Rugby League: a protocol for a database design

Andrew J. Gardner, Grant L. Iverson, Paul Bloomfield, Sharron Flahive, James Brown, Suzi Edwards, Gordon Fuller, Mazdak Ghajari, P. Jhala, Ben Jones, Christopher Levi, Warren McDonald, Shreya McLeod, Cameron Owen, Georgia Page, Kenneth L. Quarrie, Oliver J. Smith, Peter Stanwell, Daniel Tadmor, Timana Tahu, Douglas P. Terry, Campbell Thomson, Ross Tucker, Lauren V. Fortington

BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2024

DOI

Work with us

If you want to study with us, collaborate with us, or use our facilities, get in touch.

Get in touch