Newcastle University

Background

I obtained my undergraduate degree in electronic engineering from the University of Limerick, Ireland, in 2004. During my final year project I became exposed to the field of biomedical electronics with work on a muscle stimulation device for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Upon completion of my undergraduate studies I worked for a period as a biomedical engineering at Cork University Hospital, Ireland. I returned to undertake my doctorate in early 2005 and finished in 2008. During this my research focused on the use of accelerometry and novel signal processing techniques to examine human movement and physical activity in clinical and nonclinical environments.
After the completion of my doctorate I worked with the CAALYX (Complete Ambient Assisted Living Experiment) FP7 project as a research assistant. Within this role I examined the use of novel signal processing techniques for the purpose of human movement analysis and physical activity detection in a single body worn sensor. In 2009 I moved to the University of Reading, UK, as a post-doctorate researcher to work on the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) project: “Novel Assessment of Nutrition & Ageing (NANA)”. This role focused on the novel use of technology to monitor physical activity, nutrition and cognitive function in older adults. From that project I joined LiveWell and the Clinical Ageing Research Unit (CARU) at Newcastle University in 2010. Within the LiveWell project my role is to assess human movement and physical activity for older people in the peri-retirement window through accelerometry and other discrete technology.

Affiliations 

Adjunct Lecturer in Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway)

Qualifications

B.Eng (Electronic Engineering)
Ph.D (Biomedical Electronics)

Previous Positions

Research Fellow, University of Reading, UK
Research Assistant, University of Limerick, Ireland

Memberships

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (MIEEE)
Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET)
International Society for Posture and Gait Research

Other 

Google scholar profile

Research Interests

My research interests are concerned with human movement analysis and the application of electonic sensors and signal processing. I am part of the human movement and gait research laboratory, (based in CARU - Clinical Ageing Research Unit) which aims to advance patient diagnosis, assessment and treatment and to understand the effect of ageing on movement control. Currently my research focuses on the application of novel technologies such as accelerometry for assessment and intervention.

Current Work

I am the human movement science research associate for the LiveWell research programme, funded through the MRC Lifelong Health & Wellbeing initiative.

Undergraduate Teaching

Electrical Science 1 & 2
Student Support Centre - Peer support

Postgraduate Teaching

M.Sc in Biomedical Engineering: Bioinstrumentation

• Lord S, Godfrey A, Galna B, Mhiripiri D, Burn D, Rochester L. Ambulatory activity in incident Parkinson's: more than meets the eye?. Journal of Neurology 2013, (epub ahead of print).
• Hobbs N, Godfrey A, Lara J, Errington L, Meyer TD, Rochester L, White M, Mathers JC, Sniehotta FF. Are behavioural interventions effective in increasing physical activity at 12-36 months in adults aged 55 to 70 years? A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medicine 2013, 11, 75.
• Godfrey A, Lord S, Galna B, Mathers J, Burn D, Rochester L. The association between retirement and age on physical activity in older adults. Age & Ageing 2013. In Press.
• Lara J, Godfrey A, Evans E, Heaven B, Brown LJE, Barron E, Rochester L, Meyer TD, Mathers JC. Towards measurement of the Healthy Ageing Phenotype in lifestyle-based intervention studies. Maturitas 2013, 76(2), 189-199.
• Hobbs N, Godfrey A, Mathers J, Rochester L, McDonald S, Araujo-Soares V, White M, Sniehotta F. A meta-analysis of physical activity interventions in the 'retirement window'. In: “Resiliance and Health” : 26th Conference of the European Health Psychology Society. 2012, Prague, Czech Republic: Routledge.
• Godfrey A, Galna B, Lord S, Mhiripiri D, Rochester L. A novel approach with accelerometry to investigate postural control in Parkinson's during gait. In: Parkinson UK Research Conference. 2012, York, UK.
• Godfrey A, Lord S, Dadirayi M, Burn D, Rochester L. Ambulatory activity but not sedentary behaviour discriminates early Parkinson's disease and controls. In: Joint World Congress of ISPGR and Gait & Mental Function. 2012, Trondheim, Norway.
• Lord S, Galna B, Godfrey A, Burn D, Rochester L. Patterns of daily ambulatory activity differ in early Parkinson's disease compared with controls. In: 16th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders. 2012, Dublin, Ireland.
• Timon CM, Forster SE, Barker ME, Godfrey AJ, Hwang F, Williams EA. A comparison of younger v. older adults' ability to estimate food portion sizes. In: Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2011, Cork, Ireland: Cambridge University Press.
• Godfrey A, Bourke AK, Ólaighin GM, van de Ven P, Nelson J. Activity classification using a single chest mounted tri-axial accelerometer. Medical Engineering & Physics 2011, 33(9), 1127-1135.
• Godfrey A, Olaighin G, Mathers J, Rochester L. Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity in Older Adults: LiveWell. In: International Conference on Ambulatory Monitoring of Physical Activity and Movement (ICAMPAM). 2011, Glasgow, Scotland.
• Godfrey A, Conway R, Leonard M, Meagher D, Ólaighin G. Motion analysis in delirium: A discrete approach in determining physical activity for the purpose of delirium motoric subtyping. Medical Engineering & Physics 2010, 32(2), 101-110.
• Godfrey A, Leonard M, Donnelly S, Conroy M, ÓLaighin G, Meagher D. Validating a new clinical subtyping scheme for delirium with electronic motion analysis. Psychiatry Research 2010, 178(1), 186-190.
• Godfrey A, Conway R, Leonard M, Meagher D, Ólaighin G. A classification system for delirium subtyping with the use of a commercial mobility monitor. Gait & Posture 2009, 30(2), 245-252.
• Godfrey A, Conway R, Leonard M, Meagher D, Olaighin G. A Continuous Wavelet Transform and Classification Method for Delirium Motoric Subtyping. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering 2009, 17(3), 298-307.
• Godfrey A, Conway R, Meagher D, ÓLaighin G. Direct measurement of human movement by accelerometry. Medical Engineering & Physics 2008, 30(10), 1364-1386.
• Godfrey A, Conway R, Leonard M, Meagher D, O'Laighin GM. Motion analysis in delirium: A wavelet based approach for sub classification. In: 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. 2008, Vancouver, Canada: IEEE.
• Godfrey A, Culhane K, Lyons G. Comparison of the performance of the activPAL™ Professional physical activity logger to a discrete accelerometer-based activity monitor. Medical Engineering & Physics 2007, 29(8), 930-934.
• Clarke-Moloney M, Godfrey A, O'Connor V, Meagher H, Burke PE, Kavanagh EG, Grace PA, Lyons GM. Mobility in Patients with Venous Leg Ulceration. European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery 2007, 33(4), 488-493.
• Leonard M, Godfrey A, Silberhorn M, Conroy M, Donnelly S, Meagher D, Ólaighin G. Motion Analysis in Delirium: A Novel Method of Clarifying Motoric Subtypes. Neurocase 2007, 13(4), 272-277.
• Godfrey A, Hourigan T, O'Laighin GM. Pendulum Analysis of an Integrated Accelerometer to assess its suitability to measure Dynamic Acceleration for Gait Applications. In: 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. 2007, Lyon, France: IEEE.