School of Health academic engages with both coasts of America

Over the summer, Dr Mike Curran, Associate Professor in Podiatry at the University of Northampton, was invited to present his research at two prestigious locations on both the east and west coasts of the USA!

On 4 August, Dr Curran was invited to speak at the International Association of Identification’s (IAI) 100th conference in Sacramento, California.

The IAI is the oldest and largest forensic association in the world. This professional forensic association represents a diverse, knowledgeable and experienced membership that are assembled to educate, share, critique and publish methods, techniques and research in the physical forensic science disciplines.

This year’s conference was the largest, to date as it was the IAI’s Centennial event. Around 1,700 delegates attended the six-day conference and Dr Curran presented research he has undertaken on the topic of forensic gait analysis.

A week later on 11 August, Dr Curran then travelled to the east coast to speak at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine. The School was founded in 1911 and was the first Podiatric Medical School established in the United States. New York College of Podiatric Medicine is the oldest and largest podiatric medical school in the U.S. The Foot Centre of New York, its associated training centre, sees nearly 20,000 patient visits a year, making it the largest foot clinic in the world.

Dr Curran presented a Randomised Control Trial he had undertaken that was published in the British Medical Journal. He is currently working with a colleague at the school on a research project and is setting up a student visit programme for podiatry students from the University of Northampton to visit the school.

He commented: “It was a privilege to be introduced to the executive team at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine. I also had the opportunity to speak about the Randomised Control Trial I had undertaken in the UK with their staff and students. I hope to set up a programme to the visit the college for our podiatry students in 2016 and undertake research with one of the New York professors fairly soon.”