Gabriel Fernandes

Biography

Dr Gabriel Fernandes is a Senior Physiotherapist with over 15 years of experience in elite sport and private practice. He has worked extensively with high-performance athletes and served as Head Physiotherapist for the Italian National Beach Volleyball teams from 2011 through the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He was also part of the physiotherapy team at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Gabriel completed his PhD in Sports Medicine at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where his research investigated central nervous system contributions to triceps surae muscle deficits in runners with Achilles tendinopathy.

Research

Gabriel’s research focuses on neurophysiological and biomechanical adaptations that underlie both sports injuries and neurodegenerative conditions, including Achilles tendinopathy, chronic ankle instability (CAI), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, and motor neurone disease (MND). His work investigates how neural mechanisms influence muscle recruitment, force generation, and motor control.

His current research investigates neuromuscular adaptations in runners with Achilles tendinopathy, examining how changes in neural drive to the triceps surae, associated with neuromuscular fatigue, impact individual muscle recruitment and contribute to tendinopathy. Gabriel also collaborates on research on MND, examining how motor neurone physiology deteriorates with MND progression and its impact in motor function.

Overall, Gabriel’s research expertise includes high-density and surface EMG; motor unit decomposition and analysis; dynamometry; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), electrical stimulation; and analysis in MATLAB.

Community engagement

Gabriel is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, where he collaborates on a research project investigating motor neuron function in individuals living with MND.

Supervision

Gabriel currently supervises student research projects investigating Achilles tendinopathy in runners, and female athletes with chronic ankle instability (CAI). He is currently accepting Masters and PhD students interested in related areas of lower limb tendinopathy, neuromuscular adaptations, and motor control research.

Teaching

Gabriel teaches units into the Bachelor of Physiotherapy, including HBIO1011 – Regional Anatomy and Biomechanics and PHTY2001 – Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Practice 1, related to the management of lower limb MSK injuries.