associate Professor hylton menz

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2011 Fulbright Senior Scholar

“Foot disorders are often perceived as relatively trivial complaints, however there is strong evidence that foot pain and deformity have a significant impact on quality of life.”

Associate Professor Hylton Menz, from La Trobe University’s Musculoskeletal Research Centre has received a 2011 Fulbright Senior Scholarship to go to the Institute for Aging Research at Harvard University for four months to undertake research into foot pain.

The program of research will identify factors that increase the risk of future development of foot pain, the impact of foot pain on physical functioning, and the contribution of foot disorders in the development of symptoms in other body regions, particularly in older people.

“Foot disorders are a common but largely under-researched public health problem,” Hylton said. “This project will address significant gaps in the literature by examining the prevalence and impact of foot disorders.”

Hylton will use a sample of men and women who are members of the Framingham Foot Study cohort, derived from two large, population-based samples of residents of Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.

The outcomes of this program of research will be a vastly improved knowledge of the risk factors for foot symptoms in older people, which has the potential to inform intervention studies to prevent the onset of foot pain and disability.

“It will also assess the impact of foot symptoms on physical function and health-related quality of life, which will highlight the extent to which foot disorders are a public health problem, and the relationship between foot pain and deformity and the risk of developing pain in other body regions, which has implications for the design of mechanical interventions such as foot orthoses and footwear modifications,” Hylton said.

Hylton has a BPod(First Class Hons) and a PhD from the University of New South Wales, and is the editor of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research. He has won many awards and prizes including a Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2006), a British Medical Association Book Award (2009), a La Trobe University Excellence in Research Award (2009) and an Honorary Fellowship of the UK Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists (2010).

In his spare time he enjoys international travel with his wife Elizabeth and 2-year old daughter Anika.

The prestigious Fulbright program is the largest educational scholarship of its kind, created by U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright and the U.S. Government in 1946. Aimed at promoting mutual understanding through educational exchange, it operates between the U.S. and 155 countries. In Australia, the scholarships are funded by the Australian and U.S. Governments and corporate partners and administered by the Australian-American Fulbright Commission in Canberra.

Hylton is one of 26 talented Australians to be recognised as a Fulbright Scholar in 2011. Applications for Fulbright Scholarships in 2012 open on 1 June, visit www.fulbright.com.au

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