ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Michael Baggaley and Olivia Bruce are an authors on ‘ Tibial strains are sensitive to speed, but not grade, perturbations during running’, published in JEB. Michael is a postdoc in the lab of Dr Walter Herzog at the University of Calgary, Canada, investigating bone growth and development with a focus on how individual differences in movement patterns and structural anatomy alter musculoskeletal loading and risk of injury. Olivia is a postdoc in the lab of Dr Feliks Kogan at Stanford University, USA, investigating bone stress injuries of the lower limb in athletes.
Michael Baggaley and Olivia Bruce
How did you become interested in biology?
Michael: I became interested in biology as a means to understand the determinants of human performance in a sports context. This led me to biomechanics, where I could combine my interest in biology and physics to study the mechanical factors that govern human movement and injury development.
Olivia: Biology was one of my favourite subjects in grade school. I still love learning about plants and animals. Outside of the classroom, I grew up doing a variety of sports and was a competitive athlete for many years. This sparked my interest in human biology; I wanted to understand the principles underlying my training, performance and, most importantly, the overuse injuries I experienced.
Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus
Michael: I became involved in research during my undergrad at Mercyhurst University, USA. I volunteered in the movement analysis laboratory at the Shriner's Children's Hospital where we would perform gait analyses to aid in surgical planning for children with cerebral palsy. This sparked my interest in locomotion biomechanics and I have spent the last 12 years studying the biomechanics of running and the determinants of musculoskeletal loading. Currently, my research is focused on understanding how individual muscles function as part of a muscle group; this work seeks to understand how intermuscular connections transfer force between muscles – as a function of joint angle and activation magnitude – to influence their behaviour during activation across their functional landscape. The goal of this work is to improve our understanding of muscle function in situ so that we can improve computer models of the musculoskeletal system.
Olivia: I got involved in research at the Biomechanics and Ergonomics Laboratory at Queen's University, Canada, during my undergraduate degree in kinesiology and completed a thesis in the lab with Dr Steve Fischer. I then followed my interests in sport biomechanics and overuse injuries to Dr Brent Edwards' lab at the University of Calgary, Canada. Here, I had opportunities to be involved in highly collaborative projects, learning how to collect and integrate a broad range of biomechanics and medical imaging data. My PhD research used a combination of statistical shape and appearance modeling and finite element modeling to evaluate human tibial-fibular morphology variations and their mechanical implications for stress fracture risk. I am currently a Postdoctoral Scholar in Dr Feliks Kogan's lab in the Department of Radiology at Stanford University, USA, where my work is focused on better understanding the development of and return to sport from bone stress injuries using a variety of advanced medical imaging data.
How would you explain the main findings of your paper to a member of the public?
Our paper found that the strain experienced by your shin bone is sensitive to the speed at which you are running but is insensitive to the terrain on which you are running. Importantly, our work found that the strain placed on the bone was largely determined by individual differences in bone shape/size and movement patterns. This tells us that if we want to understand why some individuals develop a stress fracture in their shin, we should focus on how they are built and how they run, within the context of their training (i.e. how far, fast and long someone runs).
Why did you choose JEB to publish your paper?
Michael: I have always enjoyed reading the work that is published in JEB, and the values of the journal align with my own. I like the fact that they do not charge a fee for publication, that the papers have a large word limit – and no limit on the methods section – which is needed for studies such as our own that combine experimental and modeling approaches. And there is no charge for colour figures, which makes for more visually appealing manuscripts. It's nice that a journal operates in the 21st century where most individuals are accessing manuscripts digitally.
A study participant performing an uphill running trial while we record force and motion data of the participant's running pattern.
A study participant performing an uphill running trial while we record force and motion data of the participant's running pattern.
What do you enjoy most about research, and why?
Olivia: The thing I enjoy most about research is that constantly learning new things is a central part of my job. Solving a difficult problem or learning something we didn't know before is so satisfying. I get to feed my curiosity and pursue passion projects. I also enjoy chatting with people who are passionate and knowledgeable about their own research topics. Their enthusiasm is energizing and sometimes it sparks ideas for projects.
What is your favourite animal, and why?
Michael: Currently, I am fascinated by the western mountain hare that occupies the streets of Calgary. They are incredibly fast and agile, and watching them move always stimulates thoughts about musculoskeletal biomechanics and how evolution alters structure to achieve a unique function.
What is the most important lesson that you have learned from your career so far?
Olivia: Collaboration done well leads to excellent science. I was fortunate to do my graduate training in a lab with a collaborative and supportive culture. I learned so much from my lab-mates and other collaborators. Many of our workflows and analyses, including this paper, would not have been possible without leveraging each other's interdisciplinary expertise. I've found that being able to talk through problems or unexpected results with collaborators is helpful, often expediting the process of problem solving. Based on my experience during grad school, I looked for a culture of collaboration and collegiality when searching for postdoc positions and am happy to have found a great environment at Stanford.
Michael: I'd like to reiterate what Olivia said about the importance of collaboration to conduct impactful research. This paper would not have been possible without the hard work of my co-authors, and their important contributions to biomechanics can be found throughout the paper.
What's next for you?
Michael: I will be moving to Edmonton to start a postdoc with Dr Dan Romanyk, where I will study the mechanobiology of cranial suture development.
Olivia: In Dr Kogan's lab I've been learning about the many MRI sequences, as well as PET imaging, and how they may be applied to assess musculoskeletal health. I'll be using some of these techniques in upcoming projects as I continue my research in bone stress injuries, focusing on risk factors and return to sport.
Michael Baggaley's contact details: Human Performance Laboratory, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, 2400 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 1N4.
Olivia Bruce's contact details: Department of Radiology, 1201 Welch Rd, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
