Control of balance is vital to everyday life. Maintaining balance involves highly complex processing of peripheral sensory information and precise coordination of motor responses. Our research aims to enhance understanding of human balance and involves investigations of sensory and motor contributions, behavioural influences, environmental factors, as well as clinical populations and settings. Current studies are designed to investigate the physiology and biomechanics of standing, walking and stepping reactions. Fall risk factors and strategies for prevention of falls in different populations are being systematically examined in large-scale studies. Visit the falls and balance page.
Professor Stephen Lord is a Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute in Sydney, Australia. Over the last 20 years, he has worked in the areas of applied physiology, instability, falls and fractures in older people. Professor Lord's research on falls has followed two main themes: the identification of risk factors and the evaluation of prevention strategies. His studies have involved large prospective population studies and randomised controlled trials for assessing the effectiveness of exercise and targeted programs in improving vision, strength, balance and co-ordination and preventing falls in community dwelling people and residents of retirement villages. His methodology and approach to falls-risk assessment has been adopted by many researchers across the world. With colleagues at the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, he has recently written a comprehensive book on Falls in Older People - published by Cambridge University Press.
