Dr Marc Sim
Improving muscle and bone health through diet and exercise to reduce the risk of falls and associated injuries
Edith Cowan University
Dr Marc Sim
Mentor: Professor Jonathan Hodgson
$89,786
A major focus of Dr Sim’s research was understanding how nutrition contributes to musculoskeletal health.
His work examined nutrients and bioactive compounds found in foods, particularly vitamin K and dietary nitrate. As part of this research program, Dr Sim helped develop Australia’s first food composition database for vitamin K, allowing researchers to investigate how vitamin K intake relates to muscle, bone and falls risk.
Using data from the Perth Longitudinal Study of Ageing Women, his research found that higher vitamin K1 intake was associated with better physical function and a lower risk of injurious falls. Biological markers of vitamin K insufficiency were also associated with greater walking-aid use and a higher long-term risk of fall-related hospitalisation.
Dr Sim also explored how technology could improve falls-risk identification. During the Fellowship, he contributed to the development of machine-learning approaches that use whole-body bone-density images to identify muscle weakness and other characteristics associated with increased falls risk.
His research also contributed to the Modification Of Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle (MODEL) Study, which investigated whether showing older adults evidence of their own vascular disease could encourage long-term improvements in diet and physical activity.
The Fellowship helped Dr Sim further establish his Falls Free Future Research Program at Edith Cowan University, bringing together nutrition, healthy ageing, clinical trials and emerging technologies to better understand and prevent falls.
His research has also been translated into community education, including the Fuel Your Body & Mind Cooking Workshop, developed with Injury Matters’ Stay On Your Feet program to help older adults put evidence-based nutrition advice into practice.
During the Fellowship, Dr Sim received national and international recognition for his work in nutrition and musculoskeletal health and continued to build his leadership, research supervision and collaboration experience.
His research continues to focus on helping older Australians remain stronger, more mobile and independent for longer.
Dr Marc Sim
Improving muscle and bone health through diet and exercise to reduce the risk of falls and associated injuries
Edith Cowan University
Dr Marc Sim
Mentor: Professor Jonathan Hodgson
$89,786
A major focus of Dr Sim’s research was understanding how nutrition contributes to musculoskeletal health.
His work examined nutrients and bioactive compounds found in foods, particularly vitamin K and dietary nitrate. As part of this research program, Dr Sim helped develop Australia’s first food composition database for vitamin K, allowing researchers to investigate how vitamin K intake relates to muscle, bone and falls risk.
Using data from the Perth Longitudinal Study of Ageing Women, his research found that higher vitamin K1 intake was associated with better physical function and a lower risk of injurious falls. Biological markers of vitamin K insufficiency were also associated with greater walking-aid use and a higher long-term risk of fall-related hospitalisation.
Dr Sim also explored how technology could improve falls-risk identification. During the Fellowship, he contributed to the development of machine-learning approaches that use whole-body bone-density images to identify muscle weakness and other characteristics associated with increased falls risk.
His research also contributed to the Modification Of Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle (MODEL) Study, which investigated whether showing older adults evidence of their own vascular disease could encourage long-term improvements in diet and physical activity.
The Fellowship helped Dr Sim further establish his Falls Free Future Research Program at Edith Cowan University, bringing together nutrition, healthy ageing, clinical trials and emerging technologies to better understand and prevent falls.
His research has also been translated into community education, including the Fuel Your Body & Mind Cooking Workshop, developed with Injury Matters’ Stay On Your Feet program to help older adults put evidence-based nutrition advice into practice.
During the Fellowship, Dr Sim received national and international recognition for his work in nutrition and musculoskeletal health and continued to build his leadership, research supervision and collaboration experience.
His research continues to focus on helping older Australians remain stronger, more mobile and independent for longer.