The Magnificent Five - F.A.C.E.S.

Five students at the Institute of Motion Analysis & Research (TORT Centre) were given the opportunity to present their current research at the 16th International Conference on Clinical Biomechanics at Staffordshire University Campus, Stoke-on-Trent on 26 - 28 April, 2018. The conference is organised each year by Professor Nachiappan Chockalingam, Professor of Clinical Biomechanics at Staffordshire University.

Professor Rami Abboud and Dr Graham Arnold from the Institute of Motion Analysis & Research (MAR) accompanied the students representing the School of Medicine. Each student is studying BMSc Applied Orthopaedic Technology and presented their research for ten minutes each followed by short Q&A sessions:

• A comparison of the protection offered against lower leg injury by different types of shin guards in football. Sarah Burns, Tim Drew, Graham Arnold, Weijie Wang, Rami J Abboud

• Can foot angle influence the risk of injury to the lower limb joints during a field hockey hit? Frances Feeley, Graham P Arnold, Sadiq Nasir, Weijie Wang, Rami J Abboud

• Stability of the knee joint during skiing: How does the moment arm of ground reaction force change with slope steepness and posture? Catherine Hunter, Graham P Arnold, Sadiq Nasir, Weijie Wang, Rami J Abboud

• The effect of heel height on back pain in simulated pregnancy. Emily McKenzie, Graham P Arnold, Sadiq Nasir, Weijie Wang, Rami J Abboud

• Investigation into the importance of trekking poles in preventing injury when hillwalking. Alison Young, Graham P Arnold, Sadiq Nasir, Weije Wang, Rami J Abboud

Left to Right: Professor Rami Abboud, Frances Feeley, Alison Young, Catherine Hunter, Sarah Burns, Emily McKenzie, Dr Graham Arnold.

As in previous years, the conference provided a forum for information dissemination on lower limb clinical biomechanics and fostered discussion on research and case studies in this field via plenary sessions. The overall conference content placed focus on the musculoskeletal biomechanics of the lower limb, with sessions dedicated to (1) footwear biomechanics and orthotics (2) clinical outcomes based on biomechanics and gait analysis and (3) soft tissue biomechanics of the foot. On each day keynote speakers outlined the latest developments in the area of footwear biomechanics, pathomechanics and pathology of the foot at risk and highlighted the vital role of technology in understanding biomechanical principles with specific attention on diagnosis and management of patients. The latter was the main keynote lectures of Professor Vincent Hetherington from Kent State University, USA.

Dr Martyn Shorten, Managing Partner of BioMechanica, LLC, delivered a keynote lecture on The Running Shoe Universe: Relative motion of the foot inside the shoe. Invited speakers include Dr Jonathan Sinclair, University of Central Lancashire and Dr Helen Branthwaite, Staffordshire University.

Professor Rami Abboud, Director of IMAR and Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching at the School of Medicine, stated:

“This is now the 15th year we have been taking students to this prestigious international conference and once again it was a tremendously tough choice deciding exactly which students were chosen to present. I now know how a football manager must feel having to leave a player out of a cup final! The standard of students and the research being conducted at the TORT Centre is so remarkably high and extremely diverse that we could easily have taken any of the current 30+ students, confident in the fact that they would represent the School of Medicine and the University with distinction and skill. The ones chosen did just that and all presented their research extremely professionally and confidently, they were simply superb and made me very proud and the envy of many delegates in attendance. I really hope the long car journeys with myself and Dr Arnold to Stoke and back were worth the effort and that you all enjoyed gaining valuable experience of attending and presenting at a scientific conference.

The conference was a great opportunity to hold the Editorial Board meeting of The Foot journal as many members were attending the conference and it was a great privilege to at last meet Professor Vincent Hetherington face to face. Vincent was very impressed with the quality of projects our students undertook and he sensed their passion and commitment during the conference and in the delivery of their papers”.

Left: Professor Nachiappan Chockalingam, Professor Vincent Hetherington, Professor Rami Abboud; Right: En Route to the conference dinner!

UK Footwear Biomechanics Meeting

The 2nd UK Footwear Science Meeting was also a part of the 16th consecutive Staffordshire Conference on Clinical Biomechanics (SCCB). The one-day footwear meeting provided a forum for the dissemination of work relating to scientific aspects of footwear development.