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Sixiao Li (Sophia)

Sixiao Li (Sophia) is a PhD candidate in the School of Biomedical Engineering at UNSW Sydney, specialising in wearable sensing technologies and adaptive stimulating systems for gait rehabilitation in people with Parkinson’s disease. She completed a dual degree of a Bachelor’s in Bioinformatics Engineering, gaining solid training in computer science and computational biology, and a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at UNSW.

During her Master’s program, she worked with Walking Tall Health on her thesis project, laying the foundation for her current doctoral research. Her PhD research centres on the development of a closed-loop, “pacemaker-like” wearable device that delivers personalised somatosensory stimulation to improve walking performance and reduce freezing of gait for Parkinson’s disease patients. Her work integrates embedded systems, wearable sensors, signal processing, and clinical evaluation, supported by systematic reviews, prototype trials and stakeholder engagement with healthcare workers and people living with mobility impairments. As a member of the ARC Hub for Connected Sensors for Health, Sophia is committed to translating research into scalable, user-centred solutions that enhance patients’ long-term mobility, independence, and quality of life.


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