Publications · HEAD Lab

2026

Face the facts: a characterisation of 2013–2025 UK motorcycle collisions, head impact locations and injury outcomes supporting facial impact testing

Claire Baker, Zhuoxiaoyue Wang, Lucas Low, Emily Ashworth, Mark Wilson, David Sharp, Nils Lübbe, Shiyang Meng, Mazdak Ghajari

Traffic Safety Research, 2026

DOI

Which brain injury metrics are suitable for supporting sports head injury assessment? A multi-sport brain strain evaluation

preprint

Emily Yik Kwan Chan, Eleni Koumantou, Lucas Low, Isaac Siy, Chris M. Jones, Kieran Austin, Mike Loosemore, Stuart J. McDonald, Mazdak Ghajari

medRxiv, 2026

DOI

PARS: an automated, open-source pipeline for subject-specific finite element head modelling from MRI

preprint

Vahid Darvishi, Emily Yik Kwan Chan, Harry Duckworth, Thomas D. Parker, David J Sharp, Mazdak Ghajari

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), 2026

DOI

Patient-informed biomechanical modelling reveals mechanical mechanism of brain damage in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

preprint

Vahid Darvishi, Martina Del Giovane, Michael David, Magdalena A. Kolanko, Anastasia Gontsarova, Paresh Malhotra, C. Melody Carswell, David J Sharp, Mazdak Ghajari

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), 2026

DOI

Demographic and Causal Patterns in Child Cyclist Head Injuries: Informing Helmet Test Methods

preprint

William Dawber, Claire E. Baker, David J. Sharp, Shruti Agrawal, Mazdak Ghajari

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2026

DOI

Demographic and causal patterns in child cyclist head Injuries: Informing helmet test methods

William Dawber, Claire Baker, David Sharp, S Agrawal, Mazdak Ghajari

Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2026

DOI

Who wears a helmet and why? A quantitative analysis of helmet use, barriers, and purchase priorities in 1,938 cyclists

preprint

William Dawber, Claire Baker, Saian Patel, Mazdak Ghajari

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2026

DOI

Modelling the effect of ventricular expansion on white matter in normal pressure hydrocephalus

Martina Del Giovane, Vahid Darvishi, Michael C B David, Magdalena A Kolanko, Gregory Scott, Karl A Zimmerman, Valentina Giunchiglia, Anastasia Gontsarova, Adam Hampshire, Paresh A Malhotra, Mazdak Ghajari, Christopher Carswell, David J Sharp

Brain, 2026

DOI

Integrating mouthguard kinematics, finite element brain strain, and plasma biomarkers to explore brain injury thresholds in collision sport

preprint

James W. Hickey, Emily Yik Kwan Chan, Lauren J Evans, William T. O’Brien, Becca Xie, Spencer Roberts, Sarah E. Butler, Joel Ernst, William Ji Quan Zhou, Karl Zimmerman, Gershon Spitz, Thomas D Parker, Terence J O'Brien, Sandy R. Shultz, David Sharp, Mazdak Ghajari, Stuart J. McDonald

medRxiv, 2026

DOI

Non-linear stiffness and damping properties of human intervertebral discs in compression and flexion at high-rates of loading

Lucas Low, Spyros Masouros, Nicolas Newell

Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 2026

DOI

Sagittal plane head kinetics and kinematics predict base of skull fractures in motorcycle facial impact: computational reconstruction of 30 real-world collisions

preprint

Lucas Low, Claire Baker, Shiyang Meng, Mazdak Ghajari

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2026

DOI

Correction: Identifying research priorities for post-collision care in the United Kingdom: outcomes and methodological adaptations from the final prioritisation workshop

Tim Nutbeam, Laura Cottey, Kerry Dungay, Lauren R. Rodgers, Emily Foote, Caroline Leech, Claire Baker, Elizabeth Box, Louise Johnson, Brian Lee, Marilyn MacQueen, Rob Fenwick, Nigel Lang, Ianto Guy, Ian Marritt, Ian Dunbar, Ed Barnard, Mini -Review Authors

Scandinavian Journal of Trauma Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, 2026

DOI

Identifying research priorities for post-collision care in the United Kingdom: outcomes and methodological adaptations from the final prioritisation workshop

Tim Nutbeam, Laura Cottey, Kerry Dungay, Lauren R. Rodgers, Emily Foote, Caroline Leech, Claire E. Baker, Elizabeth Box, Louise Johnson, Brian Lee, Marilyn MacQueen, Rob Fenwick, Nigel Lang, Ianto Guy, Ian Marritt, Ian Dunbar, Ed B. G. Barnard, Mini -Review Authors, Nick Aveyard, Lily Eckersley-Jones, Cally Greiner-Cooper, Kershun Mathew, Nigel Lang, Celia Lugt, Kirsten Raphael, Gregory Smith, Luke Tester, Jennifer Todd, Rosanna Watts, George Russam

Scandinavian Journal of Trauma Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, 2026

DOI

Can Industrial Helmets Protect the Head in Simulated Falls and Trips?

Rachel Jia Ying Tan, Xiancheng Yu, Mazdak Ghajari

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2026

DOI

2025

How do demographic factors, non-standard and out-of-position seating affect vehicle occupant injury outcomes in road traffic collisions?

Claire Baker, Mazdak Ghajari

Safety Science, 2025

DOI

Balancing efficiency and accuracy: Extreme gradient boosting and neural networks for near real-time brain deformation prediction in sports collisions

Emily Yik Kwan Chan, Xiancheng Yu, Chen Qin, Mazdak Ghajari

Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 2025

DOI

Comparative evaluation of surgical methods in the treatment of chronic irreparable supraspinatus tears: a biomechanical study

E. Koumantou, Christopher J. Feroussis, Ermioni D. Pasiou, Stavros K. Kourkoulis

Procedia Structural Integrity, 2025

DOI

Traumatic brain injury and mortality in older adults with and without pre-injury dementia

Helen Lai, Eyal Soreq, Niall Bourke, Claire Baker, Karl Zimmerman, Megan E Parkinson, Sarah Daniels, Edward W. Gregg, David Sharp, Lucia M. Li

Age and Ageing, 2025

DOI

Identifying research priorities for post-collision care in the United Kingdom: protocol for a road injury priority setting partnership

Tim Nutbeam, Caroline Leech, Claire Baker, Elizabeth Box, Lauren R. Rodgers, Kerry Dungay, Louise Johnson, Brian Lee, Marilyn MacQueen, Rob Fenwick, Ian Marritt, Ian Dunbar, Ed B G Barnard

Scandinavian Journal of Trauma Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, 2025

DOI

Joints with angle dependent damping can help to reduce impact forces in robots

Shehara Perera, Saeed Bornassi, Mazdak Ghajari, Thrishantha Nanayakkara

Scientific Reports, 2025

DOI

2024

Viscoelastic circular cell honeycomb helmet liners for reducing head rotation and brain strain in oblique impacts

Fady F. Abayazid, Mazdak Ghajari

Materials & Design, 2024

DOI

How Well Do Popular Bicycle Helmets Protect from Different Types of Head Injury?

Claire Baker, Xu Yu, Brian C. Lovell, Ruth Tan, Srujal Patel, Mazdak Ghajari

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2024

DOI

Inherent uncertainty in pedestrian collision reconstruction: How evidence variability affects head kinematics and injury prediction

Claire Baker, Phil Martin, A Montemeglio, Rui Li, Mark H. Wilson, David Sharp, Mazdak Ghajari

Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2024

DOI

791 BO14 – Mixed martial arts vs rugby: which sport produces larger deformation of brain white matter?

Emily Yik Kwan Chan, Christopher W. Jones, Kieran Austin, Mike Loosemore, Mazdak Ghajari

Unknown venue, 2024

DOI

Design Development of a Repeatable Helmet Test System for Public Order Threat Recreations

Will Dawber, Leon Foster, Terry Senior, John Hart

Lecture notes in mechanical engineering, 2024

DOI

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

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mortality in older adults with and without pre-injury dementia

preprint

Helen Lai, Eyal Soreq, Niall Bourke, Claire Baker, Karl Zimmerman, Megan E Parkinson, Sarah Daniels, Edward W. Gregg, David Sharp, Lucia M. Li

medRxiv, 2024

DOI

A novel strain-based bone-fracture healing algorithm is able to predict a range of healing outcomes

George Morgan, L. H. Low, Arul Ramasamy, Spyros D. Masouros

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2024

DOI

When to Pull the Trigger: Conceptual Considerations for Approximating Head Acceleration Events Using Instrumented Mouthguards

James Tooby, Kevin Till, Andrew J. Gardner, Keith Stokes, Gregory Tierney, Dan Weaving, Steven Rowson, Mazdak Ghajari, Carolyn A. Emery, Melanie D. Bussey, Ben Jones

Sports Medicine, 2024

DOI

An Assessment of Sikh Turban’s Head Protection in Bicycle Incident Scenarios

Xiancheng Yu, Gurpreet Singh, Amritvir Kaur, Mazdak Ghajari

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2024

DOI

2023

A Review of Cyclist Head Injury, Impact Characteristics and the Implications for Helmet Assessment Methods

Claire Baker, Xiancheng Yu, Saian Patel, Mazdak Ghajari

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2023

DOI

An Instrumented Mouthguard for Real-Time Measurement of Head Kinematics under a Large Range of Sport Specific Accelerations

Chris M. Jones, Kieran Austin, Simon Augustus, Kieran Jai Nicholas, Xiancheng Yu, Claire Baker, Emily Yik Kwan Chan, Mike Loosemore, Mazdak Ghajari

Sensors, 2023

DOI

Micromechanics in biology and medicine

David B. MacManus, Majid Akbarzadeh Khorshidi, Mazdak Ghajari, Hamid M. Sedighi

IET Nanobiotechnology, 2023

DOI

Compression performance of composite plates after multi-site impacts: A combined experimental and finite element study

Spyridon Psarras, Raúl Muñoz, Mazdak Ghajari

Composite Structures, 2023

DOI

Head Impact Location, Speed and Angle from Falls and Trips in the Workplace

Xiancheng Yu, Claire Baker, Mazdak Ghajari

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2023

DOI

In-Depth Bicycle Collision Reconstruction: From a Crash Helmet to Brain Injury Evaluation

Xiancheng Yu, Claire Baker, Mike Brown, Mazdak Ghajari

Bioengineering, 2023

DOI

2022

New viscoelastic circular cell honeycombs for controlling shear and compressive responses in oblique impacts

Fady F. Abayazid, Diagarajen Carpanen, Mazdak Ghajari

International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 2022

DOI

The relationship between road traffic collision dynamics and traumatic brain injury pathology

Claire Baker, Phil Martin, Mark H. Wilson, Mazdak Ghajari, David Sharp

Brain Communications, 2022

DOI

A Finite Element Model of Cerebral Vascular Injury for Predicting Microbleeds Location

Harry Duckworth, Adriana Azor, Nikolaus Wischmann, Karl Zimmerman, Ilaria Tanini, David Sharp, Mazdak Ghajari

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2022

DOI

Robotic Simulators for Tissue Examination Training With Multimodal Sensory Feedback

Liang He, Perla Maiolino, Florence Leong, Thilina Dulantha Lalitharatne, Simon de Lusignan, Mazdak Ghajari, Fumiya Iida, Thrishantha Nanayakkara

IEEE Reviews in Biomedical Engineering, 2022

DOI

Use of Brain Biomechanical Models for Monitoring Impact Exposure in Contact Sports

Songbai Ji, Mazdak Ghajari, Haojie Mao, Reuben H. Kraft, Marzieh Hajiaghamemar, Matthew B. Panzer, Rémy Willinger, Michael D. Gilchrist, Svein Kleiven, Joel D. Stitzel

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2022

DOI

A Surrogate Model Based on a Finite Element Model of Abdomen for Real-Time Visualisation of Tissue Stress during Physical Examination Training

Florence Leong, Chow Yin Lai, Siamak Farajzadeh Khosroshahi, Liang He, Simon de Lusignan, Thrishantha Nanayakkara, Mazdak Ghajari

Bioengineering, 2022

DOI

Computational prediction of head-ground impact kinematics in e-scooter falls

Pasinee Posirisuk, Claire Baker, Mazdak Ghajari

Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2022

DOI

Investigation of blast-induced cerebrospinal fluid cavitation: Insights from a simplified head surrogate

Xiancheng Yu, Tianchi Wu, Thuy-Tien N. Nguyen, Mazdak Ghajari

International Journal of Impact Engineering, 2022

DOI

Non-Lethal Blasts can Generate Cavitation in Cerebrospinal Fluid While Severe Helmeted Impacts Cannot: A Novel Mechanism for Blast Brain Injury

Xiancheng Yu, Thuy-Tien N. Nguyen, Tianchi Wu, Mazdak Ghajari

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2022

DOI

Oblique impact responses of Hybrid III and a new headform with more biofidelic coefficient of friction and moments of inertia

Xiancheng Yu, Peter Halldin, Mazdak Ghajari

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2022

DOI

Protective Performance of Helmets and Goggles in Mitigating Brain Biomechanical Response to Primary Blast Exposure

Xiancheng Yu, Mazdak Ghajari

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2022

DOI

The Protective Performance of Modern Motorcycle Helmets Under Oblique Impacts

Xiancheng Yu, Ingrid Logan, Itziar de Pedro Sarasola, Atulit Dasaratha, Mazdak Ghajari

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2022

DOI

The biomechanical signature of loss of consciousness: computational modelling of elite athlete head injuries

Karl Zimmerman, Janie Cournoyer, Helen Lai, Samuel B. Snider, David Fischer, Simon Kemp, Clara Karton, T. Blaine Hoshizaki, Mazdak Ghajari, David Sharp

Brain, 2022

DOI

2021

A New Assessment of Bicycle Helmets: The Brain Injury Mitigation Effects of New Technologies in Oblique Impacts

Fady F. Abayazid, Ke Qin Ding, Karl Zimmerman, Helena Stigson, Mazdak Ghajari

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2021

DOI

Centrifugal isolation of SARS-CoV-2: numerical simulation for purification of hospitals’ air

Vahid Darvishi, Saeed Darvishi, Marziyeh Bahrami-Bavani, Mahdi Navidbakhsh, Sasan Asiaei

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 2021

DOI

Heat and mass transfer in the hyperthermia cancer treatment by magnetic nanoparticles

Vahid Darvishi, Mahdi Navidbakhsh, Saeid Amanpour

Heat and Mass Transfer, 2021

DOI

Smoothed particle hydrodynamic modelling of the cerebrospinal fluid for brain biomechanics: Accuracy and stability

Harry Duckworth, David Sharp, Mazdak Ghajari

International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 2021

DOI

Ranking and Rating Bicycle Helmet Safety Performance in Oblique Impacts Using Eight Different Brain Injury Models

Madelen Fahlstedt, Fady F. Abayazid, Matthew B. Panzer, Antonia Trotta, Wei Zhao, Mazdak Ghajari, Michael D. Gilchrist, Songbai Ji, Svein Kleiven, Xiaogai Li, Aisling Ní Annaidh, Peter Halldin

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2021

DOI

Multiscale modelling of cerebrovascular injury reveals the role of vascular anatomy and parenchymal shear stresses

Siamak Farajzadeh Khosroshahi, Xianzhen Yin, Cornelius K. Donat, Aisling McGarry, Maria Yanez Lopez, Nicoleta Baxan, David Sharp, Magdalena Sastre, Mazdak Ghajari

Scientific Reports, 2021

DOI

Player position in American football influences the magnitude of mechanical strains produced in the location of chronic traumatic encephalopathy pathology: A computational modelling study

Karl Zimmerman, J. Kim, Clara Karton, Liam Lochhead, David Sharp, T. Blaine Hoshizaki, Mazdak Ghajari

Journal of Biomechanics, 2021

DOI

2020

Material characterisation of additively manufactured elastomers at different strain rates and build orientations

Fady F. Abayazid, Mazdak Ghajari

Additive manufacturing, 2020

DOI

From biomechanics to pathology: predicting axonal injury from patterns of strain after traumatic brain injury

Cornelius K. Donat, Maria Yanez Lopez, Magdalena Sastre, Nicoleta Baxan, Marc Goldfinger, Reneira Seeamber, Franziska Müller, Polly Davies, Peter J. Hellyer, Petros Siegkas, Steve Gentleman, David Sharp, Mazdak Ghajari

Brain, 2020

DOI

Mechanisms of tensile failure of cerebrospinal fluid in blast traumatic brain injury

Xiancheng Yu, Adriana Azor, David Sharp, Mazdak Ghajari

Extreme Mechanics Letters, 2020

DOI

2019

Thermophoretic isolation of circulating tumor cells, numerical simulation and design of a microfluidic chip

Sasan Asiaei, Vahid Darvishi, Mohammad Hossein Davari, Delaram Zohrevandi, Hesam Moghadasi

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 2019

DOI

The effects of topology and relative density of lattice liners on traumatic brain injury mitigation

Siamak Farajzadeh Khosroshahi, Harry Duckworth, Ugo Galvanetto, Mazdak Ghajari

Journal of Biomechanics, 2019

DOI

The traumatic brain injury mitigation effects of a new viscoelastic add-on liner

Petros Siegkas, David Sharp, Mazdak Ghajari

Scientific Reports, 2019

DOI

A Review of Impact Testing Methods for Headgear in Sports: Considerations for Improved Prevention of Head Injury Through Research and Standards

Tom Whyte, Cameron A. Stuart, Allen B. Mallory, Mazdak Ghajari, D. J. Plant, Gunter P. Siegmund, Peter A. Cripton

Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 2019

DOI

An assessment of blast modelling techniques for injury biomechanics research

Xiancheng Yu, Mazdak Ghajari

International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 2019

DOI

2018

Effects of temperature distribution in the tissue around the tumor on the quality of hyperthermia

Vahid Darvishi, Mahdi Navidbakhsh, Saeid Amanpour

Unknown venue, 2018

DOI

Assessment of the protective performance of neck braces for motorcycle riders: a finite-element study

Siamak Farajzadeh Khosroshahi, Mazdak Ghajari, Ugo Galvanetto

International Journal of Crashworthiness, 2018

DOI

2017

Design Optimisation of a Magnetic Field Based Soft Tactile Sensor

Gregory de Boer, Nicholas Raske, Hongbo Wang, Junwai Kow, Ali Alazmani, Mazdak Ghajari, Peter Culmer, Robert Hewson

Sensors, 2017

DOI

Predicting gravitational lensing by stellar remnants

Alexander J. Harding, R. Di Stefano, Sébastien Lépine, J. O. Urama, Dang Pham, Claire Baker

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2017

DOI

Robust and high-performance soft inductive tactile sensors based on the Eddy-current effect

Hongbo Wang, Junwai Kow, Nicholas Raske, Gregory de Boer, Mazdak Ghajari, Robert Hewson, Ali Alazmani, Peter Culmer

Sensors and Actuators A Physical, 2017

DOI

2016

Force and Topography Reconstruction Using GP and MOR for the TACTIP Soft Sensor System

Gregory de Boer, Hongbo Wang, Mazdak Ghajari, Ali Alazmani, R. Hewson, Peter Culmer

Lecture notes in computer science, 2016

DOI

Computational modelling of traumatic brain injury predicts the location of chronic traumatic encephalopathy pathology

Mazdak Ghajari, Peter J. Hellyer, David Sharp

Brain, 2016

DOI

Optimization of the Chin Bar of a Composite-Shell Helmet to Mitigate the Upper Neck Force

Siamak Farajzadeh Khosroshahi, Ugo Galvanetto, Mazdak Ghajari

Applied Composite Materials, 2016

DOI

A Low-cost Soft Tactile Sensing Array Using 3D Hall Sensors

Hongbo Wang, Gregory de Boer, Junwai Kow, Mazdak Ghajari, Ali Alazmani, Robert Hewson, Peter Culmer

Procedia Engineering, 2016

DOI

Design Methodology for Magnetic Field-Based Soft Tri-Axis Tactile Sensors

Hongbo Wang, Gregory de Boer, Junwai Kow, Ali Alazmani, Mazdak Ghajari, Robert Hewson, Peter Culmer

Sensors, 2016

DOI

2015

Impact Damage Detection in Composite Plates using a Self-diagnostic Electro-Mechanical Impedance-based Structural Health Monitoring System

Zahra Sharif Khodaei, Mazdak Ghajari, M.H. Aliabadi

Journal of Multiscale Modelling, 2015

DOI

2012

Effects of the presence of the body in helmet oblique impacts

Mazdak Ghajari, Steffen Peldschus, Ugo Galvanetto, Lorenzo Iannucci

Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2012

DOI

2011

Evaluation of the effective mass of the body for helmet impacts

Mazdak Ghajari, Steffen Peldschus, Ugo Galvanetto, Lorenzo Iannucci

International Journal of Crashworthiness, 2011

DOI

Influence of the body on the response of the helmeted head during impact

Mazdak Ghajari, Ugo Galvanetto, Lorenzo Iannucci, Rémy Willinger

International Journal of Crashworthiness, 2011

DOI

Peer-reviewed work and preprints.

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