Dr Anna Hatton

Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences
a.hatton1@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 54590

Overview

Dr Anna Hatton is a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy within the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Originally from the UK, she was awarded both her BSc(Hons) in Physiotherapy and PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from Teesside University (Middlesbrough, UK). Dr Hatton’s main research interests include the development and evaluation of novel footwear devices to enhance balance, mobility, foot sensory perception, and physical activity, in healthy and disease populations.

To date, Dr Hatton has attracted over $1.7 million research funding from major bodies including the British Geriatrics Society, Diabetes Australia, Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, and National Health and Medical Research Council. In 2010, she undertook a prestigious Australian Endeavour Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and Baroness Robson Travel Scholarship (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, UK), within the ‘Falls and Balance Research Group’ at Neuroscience Research Australia (Sydney), under the mentorship of Professor Stephen Lord. In 2016, Dr Hatton received a high profile ‘Young Tall Poppy Science Award’ from the Australian Institute of Policy and Science, in recognition of her research excellence and novel work into plantar sensory stimulation.

Dr Hatton is Co-Director of the UQ Centre for Neurorehabilitation, Ageing and Balance Research, an Associate Editor for Gait & Posture, and (elected) Secretary for the Executive Committee of the Australian and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society.

Research Interests

  • Sensory stimulating footwear devices to improve balance and mobility
    This program of research focuses on the development and evaluation of novel textured and vibratory shoe insoles to enhance postural control, gait, foot sensory function, and physical activity, in a wide range of populations including: healthy young and older people; older fallers; adults with Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Diabetes.
  • Balance performance in adults with lower limb musculoskeletal conditions
    This series of studies investigates how lower limb musculoskeletal conditions, including patellofemoral pain, anterior cruciate ligament injury, hip chondropathy, and early-onset hip osteoarthritis, can alter postural control mechanisms. We are also exploring whether physiological measurements, such as hip and trunk muscle strength, joint range of motion, foot mobility, and patient-reported outcomes, are related to balance performance in these clinical populations.
  • Understanding lateral reactive balance control mechanims in older adults with hip osteoarthritis
    This study aims to understand how hip osteoarthritis can influence people's ability to respond to a sudden loss of balance in a sideways direction by exploring how the different body segments move and how the leg and trunk muscles work to keep individuals standing upright. The benefit for people affected by hip osteoarthritis is that this study will lead to the development of new, effective treatment techniques that can help them to balance better and to maintain their independence for a longer time.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Teesside University
  • Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), Teesside University

Publications

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Supervision

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Publications

Book Chapter

  • Hatton, Anna Lucy and Rome, Keith (2013). Postural stability measurement: implications for footwear interventions. The science of footwear. (pp. 513-534) edited by Ravindra S. Goonetilleke. Boca Raton, FL, United States: CRC Press.

  • Hatton, A. L. and Rome, K. (2012). Feet. Oxford Desk Reference Geriatric Medicine. (pp. 244-245) edited by Margot Gosney, Adam Harper and Simon Conroy. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

  • Hatton, Anna Lucy and Rome, Keith (2012). Postural stability measurement: implications for footwear interventions. The science of footwear. (pp. 513-533) edited by Ravindra S. Goonetilleke. Boca Raton, FL, United States: CRC Press. doi: 10.1201/b13021

Journal Article

Conference Publication

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor