Dr Ryan Timmins
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Areas of expertise: Hamstring injuries; sporting injuries; injury prevention; injury rehabilitation
HDR Supervisor accreditation status: Full
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4964-1848
Phone: +61 3 9953 3772
Email: ryan.timmins@acu.edu.au
Location: ACU Brisbane Campus
Dr Ryan Timmins is an ACU researcher in the field of hamstring injury. He completed his PhD in 2015 focusing on hamstring muscle architecture and its role in injury and response to training interventions.
Dr Timmins’ research focus is on sports injury prevention and rehabilitation practices that are applicable to sporting environments and realistic with their applications. He has been an invited speaker at the ASPETAR Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Hospital, Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre and at the first Copenhagen Hamstring Injury Seminar. He was also awarded the illustrious Sports Medicine Australia ASICS Medal for the best of the best at their 2015 conference on the Gold Coast, as well as receiving the John Sutton Award for Best New Investigator at the same conference.
Dr Timmins has provided athlete injury consultancy to elite sporting teams for more than five years. This service has involved the assessment and reporting on various factors which may be associated with a range of injuries. It also provides input into program design and athlete management when addressing these with numerous industry stakeholders.
For the past eight years, Dr Timmins has worked within the A-League, having spent four years at Brisbane Roar and is currently in his fourth year with Melbourne Victory. During this time, his roles have included rehabilitation and injury prevention coordinator, physiotherapist assistant, strength and conditioning coach and working within the football operations.
Select publications
- Timmins RG, Bourne MN, Shield AJ, Williams MD, Lorenzen C, Opar DA. Short biceps femoris fascicles and eccentric knee flexor weakness increase the risk of hamstring injury in elite football (soccer): a prospective cohort study. Br J Sports Med. 2016 Dec;50(24):1524-1535. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-095362. Epub 2015 Dec 16. PMID: 26675089. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/50/24/1524
- Opar DA, Williams MD, Timmins RG, Hickey J, Duhig SJ, Shield AJ. Eccentric hamstring strength and hamstring injury risk in Australian footballers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2015 Apr;47(4):857-65. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000000465. PMID: 25137368. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2015/04000/Eccentric_Hamstring_Strength_and_Hamstring_Injury.24.aspx
- Bourne MN, Duhig SJ, Timmins RG, Williams MD, Opar DA, Al Najjar A, Kerr GK, Shield AJ. Impact of the Nordic hamstring and hip extension exercises on hamstring architecture and morphology: implications for injury prevention. Br J Sports Med. 2017 Mar;51(5):469-477. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096130. Epub 2016 Sep 22. Erratum in: Br J Sports Med. 2019 Mar;53(6):e2. PMID: 27660368. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/5/469
- Bourne MN, Timmins RG, Opar DA, Pizzari T, Ruddy JD, Sims C, Williams MD, Shield AJ. An Evidence-Based Framework for Strengthening Exercises to Prevent Hamstring Injury. Sports Med. 2018 Feb;48(2):251-267. doi: 10.1007/s40279-017-0796-x. PMID: 29116573. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-017-0796-x
Timmins RG, Ruddy JD, Presland J, Maniar N, Shield AJ, Williams MD, Opar DA. Architectural Changes of the Biceps Femoris Long Head after Concentric or Eccentric Training. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016 Mar;48(3):499-508. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000000795. PMID: 26460634. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2016/03000/Architectural_Changes_of_the_Biceps_Femoris_Long.20.aspx
Projects
- The interrelationship between sleep, performance, and injury risk in elite Australian footballers. $97,647 – 2021 – Melbourne Football Club
- Does anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury impair the molecular pathways responsible for building muscle? – 2022 – $49,574 Defence Science Institute Collaborative Grant
- Hamstring Injury (HAMIR) Index: A framework for injury mitigation strategies through innovative imaging, biomechanics, and data analytics – 2021
$453,818
- New technologies to model human locomotion: innovative and translational approaches with implications for human health. VESKI Research Partnership Program 2021 - $150,000
- The adaptability of hamstring muscle architecture and implications for strain injury. $907,209 AUD - 2016 - Qatar National Research Fund
- Statistical modelling of injury in elite sport: Industry Partnership Grant – 50% split University and Industry Partner - 2018 - $66,000
Australian Catholic University Grants
- ACU Faculty of Health Project Grant: Lower limb muscle activity during common rehabilitation exercises. 2018 - $13,896
- ACU Conference Travel Grant Scheme - 2017 -
Funding body: Australian Catholic University - $2393
- ACU Faculty of Health Project Grant: Hamstring strain injuries - 2017 - $15,000
- ACU Faculty of Health Undergraduate Research Internship - 2016 - $2,000
- ACU Faculty of Health Project Grant: Effect of flywheel training on hamstring muscle architecture - 2016 - $24,962
Accolades and awards
- Sports Medicine Australia Conference - Gold Coast, 2015.
Asics Medal (Best of Conference)
Best New Investigator - Exercise and Sports Science
International Travel Award - Best New Investigator Overall
- Sports Medicine Australia Conference - Sydney, 2012
Best Paper - Exercise and Sports Science
- British Journal of Sports Medicine
Winner PhD Academy Award for People’s Choice – Best PhD 2016
International Journal review panel
- American Journal of Sports Medicine
- British Journal of Sports Medicine
- European Journal of Applied Physiology
- Gait and Posture
- International Journal of Sports Medicine
- International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance
- Journal of Physical Therapy in Sport
- Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
- Journal of Sports and Health Science
- Journal of Sports Sciences
- Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
- Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
- PeerJ
- PlosOne
- Scandinavian Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports
- Sports Medicine
- Ultrasound in Biology and Medicine
Grant agency review panel
NHMRC 2021 and 2022 Ideas Grants Peer Reviewer
Public engagement
Invited Speaker:
- Sports Medicine Australia Conference: Hamstring injury symposium. October 2019: Sunshine Coast, Australia.
- European Congress of Sports Science: Hamstring symposium. July 2019: Prague, Czech Republic.
- Sports Medicine Australia Victoria Seminar: Strength and Conditioning for the injured athlete. May 2019: Melbourne, Australia.
- University of Notre Dame Sports Science Conference: Hamstring injury prevention and rehabilitation. June 2018: Indiana, United States.
- University of Louisville High Performance Seminars: Implementing hamstring injury rehabilitation and prevention research in high performance sport. June 2018: Kentucky, United States.
- Arsenal Football Club: Sports Medicine Roundtable. November 2017 and January 2018: London, England.
- Manchester City Football Club: Structuring hamstring rehabilitation within an elite football academy. March 2017: Manchester, England.
- Welsh Rugby Union and affiliates: Hamstring Injuries: What else do we do now? March 2017: Newport, Wales.
- Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Seminar Day: Eccentric weakness and muscle architecture – Role in hamstring injury and re-injury risk. Oslo. May 2015:
1st Copenhagen Hamstring Injury Seminar: Muscle architecture – Role in hamstring injury and re-injury risk. Copenhagen: May 2015:
- Sports Medicine Australia Conference: Hamstring injury seminar: Melbourne. October 2016.
- Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital: Hamstring injury seminar: Qatar. December 2016.
- Leicester City Football Club: Hamstring injury seminar. April 2015: Leicester, England https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w3eRHW1jTU&app=desktop
Industry presentations/interviews:
