I currently manage the Gait Laboratory within the Clinical Ageing Research Unit. We undertake a variety of studies (feasibility, observational, longitudinal, C-TIMPS and RCTs) with a range of patient groups (neurodegenerative, neuromuscular and genetic conditions). We have significant expertise in the design and development of novel protocols, managing and delivering complex clinical trials, database curation and implementing data analytics.
After obtaining a PhD in Musculoskeletal Biomechanics from the University of Hull in 2012, I joined Newcastle University as a Research Associate within the Brain and Movement Research Group. My research interests include: (i) characterising the functional (visual, cognitive and motor) demand of activities of daily living in ageing and disease, (ii) to understand the relative task demand in falling and non-falling cohorts to inform falls risk and (iii) inform the development of interventions designed to optimise locomotor safety.
Research expertise:
Gait; Locomotion; Activities of daily living; Biomechanics; Function; Capacity; Performance; Mobility; Falls; Intervention; Vision; Motor control; Ageing; Neurodegenerative disease; Translational healthcare
Awards:
Winner of the Best Poster Award for a Post Doctoral Fellow (Clinical Science) at the International Society of Posture and Gait Research Conference held in Edinburgh (30th June – 4th July 2019) and Fort Lauderdale (25th-29th June 2017).
Current funding:
Co-investigator; “Translating digital healthcare to enhance clinical management: evaluating the effect of medication on mobility in people with PD through remote monitoring tools.” Funder: MRC Confidence in Concept, PI Dr Silvia Del Din.
Co-investigator; “Development of an MRI protocol to quantify changes of sarcopenia in specific lower limb muscles for the future validation of novel devices for dynamic muscle function monitoring in older adults”. Funder: Radiological Research Trust, PI Dr Mat Elameer.
Co-investigator; “Developing a dynamic multimodal imaging method to study gait and balance in Parkinson’s disease.” Funder: PDUK, PI Professor Lynn Rochester.
Co-investigator; “Dynamic muscle function monitoring in older adults: development of a novel wearable device to measure muscle function”. Funder: ESRC (ISCF Healthy Ageing Catalyst Awards), PI Dr Annette Pantall.
Recent publications (since 2020):
1. Naisby, Lawson, Galna, Alcock, Burn, Rochester & Yarnall (2021). Trajectories of pain over 6 years in early Parkinson’s disease: ICICLE-PD. Journal of Neurology, pp.1-9.
2. Rehman, Zhou, Del Din, Alcock, Hansen, Guan, Hortobágyi, Maetzler, Rochester & Lamoth (2021). Gait analysis with wearables can accurately classify fallers from non-fallers: A step towards better management of neurological disorders. Sensors, 20(23), pp. 6992.
3. Wilson, Yarnall, Craig, Galna, Lord, Morris, Lawson, Alcock, Duncan, Khoo, OBrien, Burn, Taylor, Ray & Rochester (2020). Cholinergic basal forebrain volumes predict gait decline in Parkinson’s disease. Movement Disorders, 36(3), pp. 611-621.
4. McArdle, Pratt, Buckley, Del Din, Galna, Thomas, Rochester & Alcock (2021). Balance impairments as differential markers of dementia disease subtype. Frontiers in Bioengineering & Biotechnology (special issue): “Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Characterize Gait and Posture Disturbances in Aging and Related Diseases”, 9, pp. 104.
5. Wilson, Alcock, Yarnall, Lord, Morris, Taylor, Burn, Rochester & Galna (2020). Gait progression over six years in Parkinson’s disease: effects of age, medication and pathology. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 12: 577435.
6. Rehman, Kloche, Hryniv, Galna, Rochester, Del Din & Alcock (2020). Turning detection during gait: Algorithm validation and influence of sensor location and turning characteristics in the classification of Parkinson’s disease. Sensors, 20(18), pp.5377.
7. Menant, Maidan, Alcock, Al-Yahya, Cerasa, Clark, de Bruin, Fraser, Gramigna, Hamacher, Herold, Holtzer, Izzetoglu, Lim, Pantall, Pelicioni, ue Peters, Andrea L. Rosso, Rebecca St George, Samuel Stuart, Roberta Vasta, Rodrigo Vitorio & Anat Mirelman (2020). A consensus guide to using functional near-infrared spectroscopy in posture and gait research. Gait & Posture, 82, pp. 254-265.
8. Islam, Alcock, Nazarpour, Rochester & Pantall (2020). Effect of Parkinson’s disease and two therapeutic interventions on muscle activity during walking: a systematic review. Nature Journal of Parkinson’s disease, 6(1), pp.1-16.
9. Alcock, Galna, Hausdorff, Lord & Rochester (2020). Enhanced obstacle contrast to promote visual scanning in fallers with Parkinson’s disease: Role of executive function. Neuroscience, 436, pp.82-92.
10. Bekkers, Mirelman, Alcock, Rochester, Nieuwhof, Bloem, Pelosin, Avanzino, Cereatti, Della Croce, Hausdorff & Nieuwboer (2020). Do patients with freezing of gait respond differently than those without to treadmill training augmented by virtual reality? Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 34(5), pp.440-449.
11. Rehman, Buckley, Micó-Amigo, Kirk, Dunne-Willows, Mazzà, Shi, Alcock, Rochester & Del Din (2020). Accelerometry based digital gait characteristics for classification of Parkinson’s disease: what counts? IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology (inaugural issue), 1, pp. 65-73.
