Overview
Background
Research Fellow at The University of Queensland specialising in wearable and human movement analytics, with expertise in signal processing, applied machine learning, and real-world validation.
My work focuses on how movement, stress, sleep, and pain interact over time, using longitudinal modelling and wearable sensors to study mechanisms behind chronic pain flare-ups. I build data pipelines and analytical frameworks that make wearable-derived measures more reliable in free-living conditions.
Key areas:
- Wearable sensor analytics (IMU, GNSS, heart rate and HRV)
- Signal validation and benchmarking in real-world settings
- Longitudinal modelling of behaviour and physiology
- Field-based biomechanics and endurance movement research
I also lead Metric Trails, a research and standards effort focused on high-precision trail measurement and terrain analytics to improve reproducibility, safety, and fairness in trail and mountain running research.
I collaborate with academic and industry teams interested in wearable validation, study design, and robust modelling for real-world health and performance applications.
Availability
- Dr Raimundo Sanchez is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy of Systems Engineering, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
Research interests
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Real-world wearable validation
I develop methods to validate and benchmark wearable-derived signals in free-living conditions, focusing on data quality, uncertainty, and reproducibility. This includes IMU, GNSS, and heart rate/HRV, and practical frameworks to compare devices, algorithms, and protocols in the real world.
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Field biomechanics and endurance movement
I investigate human locomotion in outdoor environments, with a focus on trail and mountain running. This includes field-based biomechanics, sensor-based movement analysis, and study designs that capture real-world variability in terrain, pacing, fatigue, and movement strategies.
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High-precision GNSS and terrain analytics
I develop geospatial methods to improve measurement accuracy for outdoor locomotion research. This includes high-precision GNSS workflows and terrain analytics to reduce bias in distance, elevation gain, speed, and gradient, supporting safer, fairer, and more reproducible trail and mountain metrics.
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Robust time-series ML for wearables
I build applied machine learning approaches for wearable time-series that remain reliable under missing data, drift, and confounding. My focus is on feature engineering, model evaluation, and interpretability for real-world health and performance applications.
Research impacts
My research improves how wearable sensor data is used to support real-world health and performance decisions. In practice, this means turning noisy, everyday movement and physiology data into measures and models that are trustworthy outside the lab.
In pain research, I help build longitudinal wearable-based frameworks to understand how stress, sleep, movement, and pain interact over time, with the goal of identifying mechanisms and predictors of chronic pain flare-ups. This supports better monitoring approaches and informs the design of interventions that can be evaluated in daily life, not only in controlled settings.
In field-based biomechanics and endurance movement research, I develop methods to increase measurement accuracy and reproducibility. Through Metric Trails, we apply high-precision GNSS and terrain analytics to reduce bias in common metrics such as distance, elevation gain, speed and gradient on trails and mountains. This has practical value for:
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Safer and more consistent course and training-load measurement
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Fairer comparisons in trail-running events and platforms
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More reproducible scientific studies using outdoor movement data
Overall, the impact is improved validity, transparency, and decision-quality when wearables are used in real-world environments.
Works
Search Professor Raimundo Sanchez’s works on UQ eSpace
2025
Journal Article
Psychological Profile of Trail Runners Associated With Running-Related Injuries: A Prospective Study
Gajardo-Burgos, Rubén, Sánchez, Raimundo, Besomi, Manuela, Viljoen, Carel, Janse van Rensburg, Dina C. and Bascour-Sandoval, Claudio (2025). Psychological Profile of Trail Runners Associated With Running-Related Injuries: A Prospective Study. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach 19417381251397950, 19417381251397950. doi: 10.1177/19417381251397950
2025
Conference Publication
High-Precision Mapping of Mountain Terrain for Human Locomotion Research: A Multimodal Geospatial Framework
Sanchez, Raimundo, Nieto-Jimenez, Claudio and Riveros-Matthey, Cristian (2025). High-Precision Mapping of Mountain Terrain for Human Locomotion Research: A Multimodal Geospatial Framework. IEEE. doi: 10.1109/icprs66293.2025.11302827
2025
Conference Publication
Can a season’s quantity of upper limb movements in elite women’s water polo be measured by inertial measurement units and machine learning? A feasibility study
King, M., Sanchez, R., Watson, K., Smith, M. and Vicenzino, B. (2025). Can a season’s quantity of upper limb movements in elite women’s water polo be measured by inertial measurement units and machine learning? A feasibility study. 2025 ASICS SMA Conference, Hobart, TAS, Australia, 29 - 1 November 2025. Chatswood, NSW, Australia: Elsevier Australia. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2025.07.159
2025
Journal Article
Associations between training load, heart rate variability, perceptual fatigue, sleep, and injury in endurance athletes during a 12-week training mesocycle
Sanchez, Raimundo, Nieto, Claudio, Leppe, Jaime, Gabbett, Tim and Besomi, Manuela (2025). Associations between training load, heart rate variability, perceptual fatigue, sleep, and injury in endurance athletes during a 12-week training mesocycle. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 20 (5), 1918-1928. doi: 10.1177/17479541251335613
2025
Conference Publication
Classifying physical activity types using only GPS data: towards improving fair play on fitness platforms
Diaz, Claudio, Sanchez, Matias, Arce, Roberto and Sanchez, Raimundo (2025). Classifying physical activity types using only GPS data: towards improving fair play on fitness platforms. IGARSS 2025 - 2025 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 3-8 August 2025. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/igarss55030.2025.11243045
2025
Journal Article
"Managing Type 1 diabetes during marathons: a case study on glucose monitoring and technology failures"
Montt-Blanchard, Denise, Giraudo, Franco and Sánchez, Raimundo (2025). "Managing Type 1 diabetes during marathons: a case study on glucose monitoring and technology failures". Canadian Journal of Diabetes, 49 (4), 279-281.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjd.2025.02.006
2025
Journal Article
How fractal complexity distorts distance and elevation gain in trail and mountain running: the case for course measurement standardization
Sanchez, Raimundo, Egli, Pascal E., Jornet, Kilian, Duggan, Michael and Besomi, Manuela (2025). How fractal complexity distorts distance and elevation gain in trail and mountain running: the case for course measurement standardization. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology. doi: 10.1177/17543371251341660
2025
Journal Article
Towards validation of clinical measures to discriminate between Nociceptive, Neuropathic and Nociplastic pain: cluster analysis of a cohort with chronic musculoskeletal pain
Hodges, Paul W., Sanchez, Raimundo, Pritchard, Shane, Turnbull, Adam, Hahne, Andrew and Ford, Jon (2025). Towards validation of clinical measures to discriminate between Nociceptive, Neuropathic and Nociplastic pain: cluster analysis of a cohort with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 41 (5) e1281. doi: 10.1097/ajp.0000000000001281
2025
Journal Article
Inertial measurement unit use for elite women’s water polo upper limb external training monitoring: an observational study
King, Marguerite H., Sanchez, Raimundo, Watson, Kate, Smith, Michelle and Vicenzino, Bill (2025). Inertial measurement unit use for elite women’s water polo upper limb external training monitoring: an observational study. Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, 11 (1) e000333. doi: 10.1249/tjx.0000000000000333
2024
Book Chapter
Evaluación de la accesibilidad a la montaña en el Gran Santiago (Evaluation of mountain accessibility in Greater Santiago)
Sanchez, Raimundo, Zuniga, Sofia, Morales, Javier, Monsalve, Rafaella and Valenzuela, Luis (2024). Evaluación de la accesibilidad a la montaña en el Gran Santiago (Evaluation of mountain accessibility in Greater Santiago). Accesibilidad para ciudades equitativas. (pp. 295-314) edited by Carolina Rojas, Giovanni Vecchio and Felipe Ladrón de Guevara. Santiago, Chile: RIL Editores. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.17460141
2024
Conference Publication
Assessing the impact of digital elevation model resolution on elevation gain estimations in trail running
Sanchez, Raimundo, Egli, Pascal, Besomi, Manuela and Truffello, Ricardo (2024). Assessing the impact of digital elevation model resolution on elevation gain estimations in trail running. International Conference on Electrical, Computer, and Energy Technologies, ICECET 2024, Sydney, Australia, 25-27 July 2024. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/icecet61485.2024.10698606
2024
Conference Publication
Analysing gait transition dynamics in uphill trail running from wearable devices
Sanchez, Raimundo (2024). Analysing gait transition dynamics in uphill trail running from wearable devices. 42nd International Society of Biomechanics in Sports Conference, Salzburg, Austria, 15-19 July 2024. Marquette, MI, United States: Northern Michigan University.
2023
Journal Article
Carga de entrenamiento y variabilidad de la frecuencia cardiaca en una exposición aguda a la hipoxia hipobárica: estudio de caso
Nieto-Jiménez, Claudio, Espinoza-Salinas, A., Valenzuela Pérez, Diego, Sánchez, Raimundo and Besomi, Manuela (2023). Carga de entrenamiento y variabilidad de la frecuencia cardiaca en una exposición aguda a la hipoxia hipobárica: estudio de caso. SPORT TK-Revista EuroAmericana de Ciencias del Deporte, 12, 8-8. doi: 10.6018/sportk.597591
2023
Journal Article
Individualized visual narratives: type 1 diabetes management strategies among three runners in the London Marathon
Montt, Denise, Onetto, María Teresa and Sánchez, Raimundo (2023). Individualized visual narratives: type 1 diabetes management strategies among three runners in the London Marathon. InfoDesign: Brazilian journal of information design, 20 (2), 1-20. doi: 10.51358/id.v20i2.1111
2023
Journal Article
Hypoglycemia and glycemic variability of people with type 1 diabetes with lower and higher physical activity loads in free-living conditions using continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion with predictive low-glucose suspend system
Montt-Blanchard, Denise, Sánchez, Raimundo, Dubois-Camacho, Karen, Leppe, Jaime and Onetto, María Teresa (2023). Hypoglycemia and glycemic variability of people with type 1 diabetes with lower and higher physical activity loads in free-living conditions using continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion with predictive low-glucose suspend system. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care, 11 (2) e003082, 1-11. doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2022-003082
2023
Journal Article
Not so rebel after all: Profiling personality traits in mountain running athletes
Lopez, Andrea and Sánchez, Raimundo (2023). Not so rebel after all: Profiling personality traits in mountain running athletes. Retos, 48 (48), 532-544. doi: 10.47197/retos.v48.95734
2023
Journal Article
Un año de seguimiento con frecuencia cardiaca variabilidad de la en trail runners
Nieto-Jiménez, Claudio, Sánchez, Raimundo, Besomi, Manuela and Naranjo-Orellana, Jose (2023). Un año de seguimiento con frecuencia cardiaca variabilidad de la en trail runners. Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Fisica y del Deporte, 23 (89), 446-457. doi: 10.15366/rimcafd2023.89.031
2023
Journal Article
Delimitation of burned areas in Chile based on dNBR thresholds adjusted according to region and land cover
Sánchez, Raimundo, Briones, María José, Gamboa, Alexis, Monsalve, Rafaella, Berroeta, Denis and Valenzuela, Luis (2023). Delimitation of burned areas in Chile based on dNBR thresholds adjusted according to region and land cover. Revista de Teledeteccion, 2023 (61), 43-58. doi: 10.4995/raet.2023.18155
2022
Journal Article
Domesticating the condition: Design lessons gained from a marathon on how to cope with barriers imposed by type 1 diabetes
Montt-Blanchard, Denise, Dubois-Camacho, Karen, Costa-Cordella, Stefanella and Sánchez, Raimundo (2022). Domesticating the condition: Design lessons gained from a marathon on how to cope with barriers imposed by type 1 diabetes. Frontiers in Psychology, 13 1013877, 1-19. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1013877
2020
Journal Article
Comparative evaluation of wearable devices for measuring elevation gain in mountain physical activities
Sánchez, Raimundo and Villena, Marcelo (2020). Comparative evaluation of wearable devices for measuring elevation gain in mountain physical activities. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology, 234 (4), 312-319. doi: 10.1177/1754337120918975
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Raimundo Sanchez is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Available projects
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Real-world validation and benchmarking of wearable signals
Develop a practical validation framework for wearable-derived signals in free-living settings, focusing on data quality, uncertainty, and reproducibility. The project will benchmark IMU, GNSS, and heart rate/HRV metrics across devices and protocols, and produce a reusable analysis pipeline. Outcomes include validation datasets, benchmark metrics, and recommendations for robust study design. Suitable for candidates with Python/R, time series, and interest in real-world wearables.
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Field biomechanics in trail and mountain locomotion using wearables
Quantify movement strategies in outdoor terrain using wearable sensors, linking biomechanics to terrain, pacing, fatigue, and performance. The project will combine IMU-based movement features with GNSS-derived context, with field protocols designed for ecological validity. Outcomes include validated features for outdoor locomotion research and guidance on best-practice field measurement. Suitable for candidates with biomechanics or sensor analytics background.
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High-precision GNSS and terrain analytics for reproducible trail metrics
Improve measurement accuracy of distance, elevation gain, speed, and gradient in outdoor locomotion by combining high-precision GNSS workflows and terrain analytics. The project will evaluate sources of bias in common tools and propose reproducible standards and pipelines for research-grade trail measurement. Outcomes include methods, datasets, and practical standards for field studies and events. Suitable for candidates with geospatial analytics, GNSS, or applied modelling.
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Robust time-series ML for activity classification and anomaly detection
Develop robust ML methods for wearable time-series to classify activity types and detect anomalies under real-world noise, drift, and mislabeling. Use GNSS and optional IMU/HR features to build models that generalize across users and environments, with emphasis on evaluation and interpretability. Outcomes include deployable modelling recipes and validation results relevant to fitness and health platforms. Suitable for candidates with ML and feature engineering skills.
Supervision history
Completed supervision
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Wearable Sensor Informed Movement Monitoring in Elite Women's Water Polo
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Bill Vicenzino, Dr Nathalia Costa, Associate Professor Michelle Smith
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Raimundo Sanchez directly for media enquiries about:
- artificial intelligence
- data science
- fitness trackers
- GPS tracking
- health wearables
- hiking
- human movement
- mapping
- mountain
- movement tracking
- physical activity
- running science
- sensor data
- smartwatches
- sports technology
- terrain
- trail running
- wearable technology
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