Staff Profile

Alix is a Medical Engineer researching upper-limb prosthetics. Her research focusses on understanding how people use their prostheses through body-worn sensors and instrumented prostheses. She is particularly interested in evidencing the real-world impact of different types of prostheses.

Positions

• Senior Research Associate, Intelligent Sensing Lab, School of Engineering, Newcastle University (2021-present)
• Research Fellow, Human Movement and Rehabilitation Research Group, Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Salford (2021-present)
• Research Assistant, Human Movement and Rehabilitation Research Group, Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Salford (2018-2021)

Qualifications

• PhD Biomechanics, Biomedical Engineering and Human Movement Sciences - University of Salford
• MEng (hons) Medical Engineering - University of Bath

Committees

• Honorary Secretary - ISPO UK Executive Committee
• Chair - ISPO UK Multi-disciplinary Special Interest Group in upper-limb difference and acquired amputation
• Local organising committee - ISPO World Congress 2025 / ISPO North Sea Group committee
• Organising committee - Trent International Prosthetics Symposium 2022

Professional registrations

• Affiliate Member - Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)
• Full Member - International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO)
• Full Member - Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM)
• Full Member - BioMedEng

• Chadwell A, Kenney L, Thies S, Head J, Galpin A, Baker R. Addressing unpredictability may be the key to improving performance with current clinically prescribed myoelectric prostheses. Scientific Reports 2021, 11, 3300.
• Chadwell A, Chinn N, Kenney L, Karthaus Z, Mos D, Smit G. An evaluation of contralateral hand involvement in the operation of the Delft Self-Grasping Hand, an adjustable passive prosthesis. Plos One 2021, 16(6), e0252870.
• Kenney L, Kyberd P, Galpin A, Chadwell A, Granat M, Thies S, Head J. Chapter 3: Methods for clinical evaluation. In: Kianoush Nazarpour, ed. Control of Prosthetic Hands: Challenges and emerging avenues. Stevenage: The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), 2020.
• Chadwell A, Kenney L, Howard D, Ssekitoleko R, Nakandi B, Head J. Evaluating reachable workspace and user control over prehensor aperture for a body-powered prosthesis. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering 2020, 28(9), 2005 -2014.
• Chadwell A, Diment L, Mico Amigo E, Morgado Ramirez DZ, Dickinson A, Granat M, Kenney L, Kheng S, Sobuh M, Ssekitoleko R, Worsley P. Technology for monitoring everyday prosthesis use: a systematic review. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2020, 17, 93.
• Kenney L, Ssekitoleko R, Chadwell A, Donovan-Hall M, Morgado-Ramirez DZ, Holloway C, Graham P, Cockroft A, Deere B, McCormack S, Semwanga A, Gizamba H, Kalibbala M. Prosthetics services in Uganda: a series of studies to inform the design of a low cost, but fit-­for-­purpose, body-­powered prosthesis. In: World Health Organisation Global Report on Assistive Technology (GReAT) Consultation. 2019, Geneva: World Health Organisation.
• Chadwell A, Kenney L, Granat M, Thies S, Galpin A, Head J. Upper limb activity of twenty myoelectric prosthesis users and twenty healthy anatomically intact adults. Scientific Data 2019, 6, 199.
• Buckingham G, Parr J, Wood G, Day S, Chadwell A, Head J, Galpin A, Kenney L, Kyberd P, Gowen E, Poliakoff E. Upper-and lower-limb amputees show reduced levels of eeriness for images of prosthetic hands. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 2019, 26, 1295–1302.
• Chadwell A. The reality of myoelectric prostheses: How do EMG skill, unpredictability of prosthesis response, and delays impact on user functionality and everyday prosthesis use? [PhD thesis]. Salford: School of Health Sciences, University of Salford, 2018.
• Chadwell A, Kenney L, Granat M, Thies S, Head J, Galpin A, Baker R, Kulkarni J. Upper limb activity in myoelectric prosthesis users is biased towards the intact limb and appears unrelated to goal-directed task performance. Scientific Reports 2018, 8, 11084.
• Kenney L, Ssekitoleko R, Mwaka E, Donovan-Hall M, Morgado Ramirez D, Chadwell A, Kyberd P, Sobuh M, Ackers L, Howard D, Head J, Holloway C, Miodownik M. Upper-limb prostheses for low- and middle- income countries. Scope 2018, 38-40.
• Chadwell A, Kenney L, Granat M, Thies S, Head J, Galpin A. Visualisation of upper limb activity using spirals: A new approach to the assessment of daily prosthesis usage. Prosthetics and Orthotics International 2017, 42(1), 37-44.
• Chadwell A, Kenney L, Thies S, Galpin A, Head J. The reality of myoelectric prostheses: Understanding what makes these devices difficult for some users to control. Frontiers in Neurorobotics 2016, 10, 7.