Nadia Azar, PhD

As the founder and director of the DRUMMER Lab in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Windsor, my overall research goal is to do for drummers what sport science is doing for athletes: help them to achieve their peak performance while reducing their risk of injuries. I have presented my research at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention and the Performing Arts Medicine Association’s Annual Symposium, published my findings in key peer-reviewed journals in the field (e.g., Medical Problems of Performing Artists, Journal of Popular Music Education), and have successfully translated this work to members of the music community at large (e.g., CBC Radio, Drum Talk TV, the Drumeo Beat, and interviews on multiple podcasts). 

My research combines my roots in occupational biomechanics and neurophysiology with my love of music to study the physical demands of playing the drums. I apply my experience with both quantitative (e.g., heart rate monitoring, electromyography, three-dimensional motion capture, accelerometry, surveys, etc.) and qualitative (e.g., semi-structured interviews) research methods to examine the physical demands of drumming performance from the following perspectives: 

1) Drummers as athletes – Documenting drummers’ energy expenditure and heart rate during live performances and examining professional drummers’ engagement in athletic performance related behaviors. 

2) Drummers as workers – Documenting the prevalence and patterns of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) in drummers and determining the playing-related and lifestyle characteristics that put drummers at risk for, or protect them from, PRMDs.  

This work has received funding from the GRAMMY Museum Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the University of Windsor (Women’s Grant). Previous projects have received funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Mitacs, the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD), and the Southern Network of Specialized Care. 

I have held a full-time faculty appointment in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Windsor since January 2008.