Dr Lizeth Sloot
NUAcT and Rosetrees & Stoneygate Fellow
I joined the Faculty of Medical Sciences as a Newcastle University Academic Track (NUAcT) research fellow in 2023 and quickly after secured an external Rosetrees & Stoneygate fellowship.
My Research
Falls are a major public health concern. My research focuses on improving how we measure and understand balance impairments – a major addressable risk factor for falls.
My group develops tools to precisely capture the different components of balance and understand how they change with ageing and age-related conditions. A key insight is that the role of the foot in maintaining balance has been underestimated.
As a result, one of the most widely used measures of balance during walking systematically underestimates age‑related decline. We have developed age‑specific foot‑contact models that improve balance estimates up to 20%.
Why Newcastle?
I completed my PhD in 2016 in the Netherlands and spent several years as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard and then at Heidelberg University. The choice to continue to develop my career in the Faculty of Medical Sciences was not difficult as it hosts a large, diverse and internationally recognised group working on movement science in the context of ageing and neurodegenerative diseases.
Through its NUCoREs, Newcastle University offers unique opportunities to collaborate with sports scientists, neuroscientists, computer scientists and biomechanical engineers. The emphasis here on translational research gives me real opportunities to develop impactful real-world applications.
Support available
A move to another country can be daunting but the Faculty of Medical Sciences has made me feel very welcome. The NUAcT Network has been so important as it provides guidance and the opportunity to build a strong peer support group quickly. The mentoring I have been offered internally and externally through the NUAcT scheme and as a Rosetrees & Stoneygate Fellow has proven invaluable as I apply for external funding and PhD studentships to develop my own independent research.
What next?
In the long term, my goal is to develop accurate, easy‑to‑use clinical tests of balance that can identify individuals at risk of falling before they experience their first fall, enabling more timely and effective intervention.