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E-mail: aspence at rvc.ac.uk
Andrew Spence is an RCUK Academic Research Fellow in biomechanics. After finishing his undergraduate degree in physics at the (sunny) University of California at Berkeley in 1997, he moved to (frozen) Ithaca, New York, to do a PhD at Cornell University in Applied and Engineering Physics. Dr Spence’s thesis work was on microfabricated devices for biomedical engineering with Prof. Mike Isaacson, but at Cornell he became enthralled with the worlds of neurobiology and neuroethology through working in the lab of Prof. Ron Hoy. Prior to coming the RVC, he was a postdoctorate fellow at the (sunny) University of California at Berkeley, first studying antennal mechanoreception with Prof. Eileen Hebets, and then the neuromechanics of locomotion in the PolyPEDAL Laboratory with Prof. Bob Full, where the appeal of neuroethology turned into an addiction when he discovered the field of biomechanics. Since coming to the RVC, he has discovered that vertebrates are pretty cool after all, and that their macroevolution turns out to have been pretty darn interesting.
The goal of Andrew’s research program is to discover how the neural, muscular, and skeletal components of an organism work together to produce locomotion. This research is of fundamental importance in medicine (how can we rehabilitate stroke patients, patients with neurological disease, or amputees?), veterinary science (how do we treat lameness, and create safe environments for animals?), engineering (how do we build more agile robots?), and basic biology (how has evolution shaped animal movement?). He takes an integrative approach that fuses experiments, novel microinstrumentation, and mathematical and physical (robot) models.
His past work has examined the control of locomotion on compliant substrates (cockroaches with backpacks running over stretched dental dams!), recovery of running animals from inertial and physiological perturbation (with Shai Revzen and Simon Sponberg), and the dependence of muscle function on behavioral context (with Simon Sponberg). Crucial to this work was the utilization of MEMs inertial sensors and the development of custom microfabricated devices. These “microbackpacks” have broken new ground, and are being used to study freely behaving insects in the laboratory, gliding mammals in the wild, and many parts of a galloping horse at the same time. Currently he is completing an exciting Horserace Betting Levy Board funded project with Prof. Alan Wilson that quantified the effect of different surfaces (turf, artificial) on horse locomotion, and that was done in collaboration with the British Racing School. Please go to the gallery for exciting high speed videos of horses in action!
PhD , Cornell University, Applied and Engineering Physics
BA, Physics, University of California at Berkeley
Publications – Biology
K.J. Parsons, A.J. Spence, R. Morgan, J.A. Thompson, and A.M. Wilson. High speed kinematics of foot contact in elite galloping horses in training. Journal of Biomechanics (submitted for publication). |
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A.J. Spence, S. Revzen, J. Seipel, K. Yeates, C. Mullens, and R.J. Full. Insects running on elastic surfaces: changes in center of mass motion and implications for the control of locomotion. Journal of Experimental Biology. In preparation. |
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| 2009 | T. Pfau, A. Spence, S. Starke, M. Ferrari, and A. Wilson. Modern Riding Style Improves Horse Racing Times. Science 325 (2009), p 289.http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1174605 |
| 2009 | A.J. Spence. Scaling in Biology. Current Biology 19(2) (2009), R57-R61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.10.042 |
| 2008 | G. Byrnes, N.T.L. Lim, and A.J. Spence. Take-off and landing kinetics of free-ranging Malayan colugos (Galeopterus variegatus). Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2008). http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.1684. |
| 2006 | A.J. Spence and E.A. Hebets, Anatomy and physiology of giant neurons in the antenniform leg of the amblypygid Phrynus marginemaculatus. Journal of Arachnology 34 (2006), 566-577. http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v34_n3/JoA_v34-3-566.pdf. |
| 2003 | A. Surlykke, J.E. Yack, A.J. Spence, I. Hasenfuss. Hearing in hooktip moths (Drepanidae: Lepidoptera). Journal of Experimental Biology 206 (2003), 2653-2663. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00469. |
Publications – Engineering
| 2008 | A.J. Spence, H. Tan and A.M. Wilson. Accuracy of the TurfTrax Racing Data System for determination of equine speed and position. Equine Veterinary Journal, 40, (2008) 680-683. http://dx.doi.org/10.2746/042516408X330338. |
| 2007 | A.J. Spence, K.B. Neeves, D. Murphy, S. Sponberg, B.R. Land, R.R. Hoy, and M.S. Isaacson, Flexible multielectrodes can resolve multiple muscles in an insect appendage. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 159 (2007), 116-124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.07.002. |
| 2005 | L. Spataro, J. Dilgen, S. Retterer, A.J. Spence, M. Isaacson, J.N. Turner, W. Shain. Dexamethasone treatment reduces astroglia responses to inserted neuroprosthetic devices in rat neocortex. Experimental Neurology 194 (2005), 289-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2004.08.037. |
| 2004 | C.D. James, A.J. Spence, N. Dowell, R.J. Hussein, K. Smith, H.G. Craighead, M.S. Isaacson, W. Shain, J. Turner. Extracellular Recordings from Constructed Neuronal Networks using Planar Microelectrode Arrays. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 51 (2004), 1640-1648. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TBME.2004.827252. |
S.T. Retterer, K.L. Smith, C.S. Bjornsson, K.B. Neeves, A.J. Spence, J.N. Turner, W. Shain, and M.S. Isaacson. Model neural prostheses with Integrated Microfluidics: A Potential Intervention Strategy for Controlling Reactive Cell and Tissue Responses. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 51 (2004), 2063-2073. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TBME.2004.834288. |
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A.P. Russo, S.T. Retterer, A.J. Spence, M.S. Isaacson, L.A. Lepak, M.G. Spencer, D.L. Martin, R. MacColl, J.N. Turner. Direct Casting of Polymeric Membranes into Microfluidic Devices. Separation Science and Technology 39 (2004), 2515-2530. http://dx.doi.org/10.1081/SS-200026706. |
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| 2003 | A.J. Spence, R.R. Hoy, M. S. Isaacson. A micromachined silicon multielectrode for multiunit recording. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 126 (2003), 119-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0270(03)00075-X. |
D.H. Szarowski, M.D. Andersen, S. Retterer, A.J. Spence, M. Isaacson, H.G. Craighead, J.N. Turner, W. Shain. Brain responses to micro-machined silicon devices. Brain Research 983 (2003), 23-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0006-8993(03)03023-3. |
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| 2002 | A.P. Russo, D. Apoga, N. Dowell, W. Shain, A. Turner, H. Craighead, A.J. Spence, S.T. Retterer, M.S. Isaacson, H.C. Hoch, J.N. Turner. Microfabricated Plastic Devices from Silicon Using Soft Intermediates. Biomedical Microdevices 4 (2002), 277-283. http://dx.doi.org/10.1081/SS-200026706 |
| 2007 | A.J. Spence, K. Parsons, M. Ferrari, T. Pfau, A. Wilson, and A. Thurman, Effects of substrate properties on equine locomotion. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology a-Molecular & Integrative Physiology 146 (2007), S109-S109. |
.G. Byrnes, A.J. Spence and N. Lim. Locomotor biomechanics of a free-ranging gliding mammal Cynocephalus variegatus. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology a-Molecular & Integrative Physiology 146 (2007), S143-S144. |
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S. Revzen, J. Bishop-Moser, A.J. Spence, and R.J. Full, Testing Control Models In Rapid Running Insects Using Lateral Ground Translation. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology 2007. Phoenix, Arizona |
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M. Bowtell, A. Spence, A. Wilson, D. Kerwin, G. Irwin and I. Bezodis. Limitation to maximal speed human sprinting - Insights from bend running and fatigue. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology a-Molecular & Integrative Physiology 146 (2007), S109-S109. |
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S. Sponberg, C. Mullens, R. Full and A. Spence. Effective fields for muscles in the neuromechanical control of running and station-keeping cockroaches. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology a- Molecular & Integrative Physiology 146 (2007), S112-S113. |
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| 2005 | S. Sponberg, A. Spence, and R.J. Full, Testing neural control models for antenna-based tactile navigation in cockroaches. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology 45 (2005), 1076-1076. |
| 2008 | ``What limits running speed in race horses.'' Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting, January 2008, San Antonio, Texas. |
| 2007 | “Effects of substrate properties on equine locomotion.” Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting, March 2007, Glasgow, Scotland. |
“Insect Running on Compliant Surfaces.” Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting, January 2007, Phoenix, Arizona. |
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| 2006 | “Applications of Microfabricated Devices to Neuroscience and Neuromechanics.” Baskin School of Engineering Invited Seminar, January, 2006. Dept. of Electrical Engineering, University of California at Santa Cruz. |
| 2004 | “Preliminary neuroethological studies of the whip spider Phrynus marginemaculatus (Arachnida, Amblypigi).” International Congress of Arachnology, July 2004, Ghent, Belgium. |
| 2003 | “Customizing Multielectrodes for Nerve Cords.” Computation in Biological Systems invited seminar, February 2003, Montana State University, Bozeman, MN. |
| 2002 | “Silicon Multielectrodes for In Vivo Multi-neuron Electrophysiology.” National Nanofabrication Users’ Network Annual Meeting, Stanford University, November, 2002, Palo Alto, CA. |
Structure and Motion Lab These pages maintained by the SML Contact: Alan Wilson
