Dr Elmar Kal
Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy

Research area(s)

Two key areas of interest are:

1) The use of motor learning principles in (re-)learning of balance and gait tasks in different clinical populations

2) The role of anxiety and associated changes in attention in unexplained dizziness in older adults. In terms of approach, I strive to combine basic science (assessments of brain activity (using fNIRS, EEG), kine(ma)tics of movement (using force plates, 3D movement analysis), and muscular control (EMG)) with clinically applied research (e.g., using clinical outcomes and assessment methods). I have experience with a host of the methodological approaches (systematic reviews, observational studies, experimental studies, RCTs, validation studies) which gives me flexibility in studying these issues.

Project details

 Grant Funding (ongoing and recently completed)

• Parkinson’s Project Grants / 06/01/2021 – 01/08/2024
  • Funder: Parkinson’s UK (£246,383), Co-I (PI: Dr Will Young, Exeter)
  • Title: Weight-shift training to overcome freezing in people with Parkinson’s Disease.
  • Goal: Create home-based instructional videos to help people with PD learn cueing strategies to help effectively step out of a freeze in daily life, and evaluate their effectiveness.

• Dean’s PhD Studentships / 01/10/2023 – 30/09/2026
  • Funder: Brunel University London
  • Title: Turning attention to turning: How does attention allocation impact the selection of unsafe stepping strategies during adaptive walking in older adults?
  • Goal: Funding for PhD studentship studying attentional influences on stepping strategy selection in older adults.

• Brunel Research Initiative and Enterprise Fund / 01/09/2022 – 01/08/2024
  • Funder: Brunel University London (£13,000)
  • Title: Does excessive attention to balance induce symptoms of dizziness in older adults?
  • Goal: To investigate the degree to which excessive attention to balance contributes to dizziness symptoms in older adults.