Brian Horsak

Brian Horsak is a Privatdozent (equivalent to Associate Professor) at the University of Vienna, affiliated with the Department of Sport and Human Movement Science within the Faculty of Sports Sciences. He serves as a member of the PI Panel/Supervisors for the Sport Science program at the Vienna Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences (VDS PhaNuSpo). His research group is located at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences with strong collaboration to the Centre for Sport Science and University Sports at the University of Vienna.

Dr. Horsak's primary research interests focus on clinical (gait) biomechanics and interdisciplinary approaches between therapy and technology. His work is dedicated to understanding musculoskeletal loading of the lower extremities during locomotion and exercise, and developing assistive technologies such as machine learning algorithms and virtual reality applications to support patients and therapists during rehabilitation. Specific areas include:

• Clinical gait analysis and biomechanics
• Musculoskeletal loading in lower extremities
• Patellofemoral instability and joint biomechanics
• Machine learning applications for gait classification
• Virtual reality for rehabilitation
• Biomechanics of obesity and pediatric movement disorders
• 3D motion capture and markerless technology

His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward integrating advanced computational methods with clinical biomechanics. Over the past five years, his work has increasingly focused on smartphone-based motion capture systems, deep learning applications for gait analysis, and virtual reality environments. His research bridges engineering technology and clinical rehabilitation, with particular attention to knee biomechanics, patellofemoral disorders, and movement analysis in pediatric obesity.

Dr. Horsak teaches courses including 'Methods and Concepts of Biomechanics and Sports Informatics' and serves as supervisor for PhD students Bernhard Dumphart and Mark Simonlehner. His research group maintains strong collaborations with the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences and appears to be involved in multiple interdisciplinary projects combining sports science, engineering, and clinical rehabilitation.