Personal Statement
I'm a biomechanist with a zoology background (Antwerp University, Belgium), and with a long standing interest in human locomotion. I work in the Evolutionary Morphology & Biomechanics Group of the Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences of the University of Liverpool. I am equally interested in ultimate questions (how did walking on two legs evolve?) and in proximate questions (how do things work here-and-now). My work focuses on the function of the human foot and how it interacts with footwear and with the terrain to produce efficient gait. I am passionate about representing human diversity in biomechanics, so my lab work is complemented by field work in the UK but also with various indigenous populations in Asia and Africa. I have a great interest in how gait is affected during healthy ageing as well as in disease.
I strongly believe research and teaching go hand in hand and therefore I have established a new MSc programme in Musculoskeletal Biomechanics, where we are training the future generation of biomechanists. I am the Sustainability lead of my Institute and member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity panel.

Research Overview
My main research interest is in the biomechanics of the human foot. More specifically, I am interested in the complex interaction between the foot, footwear and the substrate. Whereas most research has focussed on sports and clinical cases, my focus is on a fundamental understanding of the foot during walking. I have a major interest in healthy ageing and in human variation - I work not just in the lab but also outside of the lab, in Europe, India and Africa. Lab work guarantees access to state-of-the-art techniques. Field work adds ecological relevance and allows to work with under-studied and under-involved (in the scientific process) populations.

Mechanically, the foot is one of the least understood structures in our body. Improving our insight will help us select the best footwear and interventions to conserve our locomotor autonomy, a major factor for quality of life.

My work has been supported by UK-based and international funders, including Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, the Research Council of Norway, industrial partner vivobarefoot ltd. and though PhD funding from the Engineering and Physics Research Council, the University of Liverpool and the Future Footwear Foundation.

In addition to my foot(wear) biomechanics work, I have a very broad interest ranging from fundamental evolutionary biology (e.g. how did we become bipedal apes?) to clinical applications (e.g. how can we better track gait in Parkinson's patients?)