Project description
How walking and running modifications affect musculoskeletal load
Strong bones and healthy muscles help us move and stay active. However, we still do not fully understand the loads our bones experience when we walk and run. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the researchers involved in the MSKLOAD project will study musculoskeletal load using principles and tools from human movement biomechanics. The research fellow and assembled team will model muscle and bone loads during locomotion and investigate ways to alter and ultimately optimise these loads for injury prevention and rehabilitation. As part of the research, they will study changes in tibial bone load when people walk (a)symmetrically with a resistive exosuit. The team will then share both their findings and the exosuit design with the public.
Objective
In an active and ageing society where mobility underpins independence, optimising musculoskeletal loading is increasingly important. Adequate load is essential for bone health, yet current measures often neglect muscle forces that contribute to bone stress. With wearable devices and digital health applications for gait training becoming more widespread, it is urgent to examine how interventions affect bone stress in the lower extremities.
MSKLOAD will address this challenge by integrating experimental biomechanics, computational modeling, and wearable technologies to assess and optimise skeletal loading strategies for injury prevention and rehabilitation. Building on an award-winning PhD in gait retraining, the Fellow will unravel the link between tibial acceleration and stress through trained use of a tibial stress model that is available at Dr. Rice's group (Host). We will test gait modifications that alter tibial acceleration, such as speed and foot strike. Extending beyond the lab, the Fellow will build on postdoctoral work in exosuit development to evaluate exosuit-enhanced gait training for stroke survivors at home, supported by OpenCap, an open-source platform for computing both motion and forces. A secondment at Vrije Universiteit Brussel will provide training in neuromechanics and foster inter-lab collaboration, while a non-academic placement at Model Health (Belgium) will promote translation of OpenCap applications and entrepreneurial skills.
Expected outcomes include new insights into tibial stress during walking and running, the first Registered Report in biomechanics, and an openly accessible exosuit design for broad societal uptake. For the Fellow, MSKLOAD provides advanced training in musculoskeletal modeling, interdisciplinary collaboration, and cross-sector experience, supporting reintegration into Europe and establishing a research line at the interface of human movement, digital health, and rehabilitation that brings the gait lab into daily life.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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0863 Oslo
Norway
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