Directory of Experts
Details for Dr Trish Dolan
| Personal details | |
| Name | Dr Trish Dolan |
| Job title | Senior Research Fellow in Centre for Comparative and Clinical Anatomy |
| Department | Centre for Applied Anatomy University of Bristol |
| Contact details | This expert can be contacted via the University of Bristol Public Relations
Office. To help us deal with your request, please mention the Directory of Experts when contacting the Public Relations Office. work+44 (0)117 331 8092 email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk |
| Qualifications | B.Sc., PhD |
| Professional details | |
| Membership of professional bodies | International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine Society for Back Pain Research British Orthopaedic Research Society |
| Keywords | back pain neck pain mechanical loading muscle function tissue injury Electromyographic assessments kinematic assessments |
| Areas of expertise | Our research uses in vitro testing procedures and in vivo electromyographic and kinematic assessments to investigate mechanisms of spinal injury and deformity. Using a technique called stress profilometry, we have demonstrated, in cadaver spines, how various types of loading can lead to high stress concentrations in the intervertebral disc that may initiate subsequent disc degeneration. Stress profilometry has also shown how altered loading due to disc degeneration can influence the risk of osteoporotic vertebral fracture, and how the detrimental effects of such fracture can be reversed by techniques such as vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. Our studies in living people have shown how factors such as muscle fatigue and soft tissue creep can alter sensorimotor function and impair reflex and voluntary control of the back muscles. Such changes in muscle function can lead to increased spinal loading which, in an occupational setting, may lead to an increased risk of injury. |