Meet The Researchers
Watch The Great Running Shoe Debate below and email us your take! We’d love to hear what your thoughts and feedback are!
Dr Chris MacLean
“From a biomechanical perspective, forces cause injuries. Footwear design and interventions (orthoses, inserts) may decrease deleterious forces in some individuals. The question to be answered is who are the ideal candidates for a particular running shoe design and/or the use of in-shoe interventions. To answer this, we need a better understanding of injury mechanism.”
Dr. Chris MacLean
Dr. Christopher L. MacLean, Ph.D. MacLean has been involved with runner and running shoes for the past 30 years.
In 1991, he began working with Paris Orthotics. First as a Pedorthist and later becoming Director of Biomechanics until 2013. During this time, MacLean completed a M.Sc. degree at University of British Columbia and a Ph.D. in Biomechanics at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Most recently, MacLean has been the Director of Applied Biomechanics and Fortius Lab at Fortius Sport & Health, Burnaby, BC. During the past 6 years, MacLean has analyzed > 1300 distance runners to serve athletes in injury management, prevention and performance optimization. In the past 20 years, MacLean has been contracted to work with New Balance, Brooks, Nike, Timberland, Lululemon and Wiivv Wearables, Inc. Dr. MacLean's research interests include the mechanism of overuse running injuries; ACL injury prevention; influence of footwear design and custom orthoses; and the role of functional variability in orthopaedic injury mechanism.
Dr Michael Ryan PhD, CPed(C)
“Footwear is a significant factor in both the cause and prevention of injury in runners.”
Dr. Michael Ryan
Dr Ryan is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology at Simon Fraser, and the Director of Research and Development at Kintec Footlabs. Key research interests for Michael include examining footwear’s role in the epidemiology of running injuries, as well as using clinical data to inform more precise treatment approaches in sports medicine. With post-doctoral work in biomechanics at the University of Wisconsin and Griffith University in Australia, combined with a 20-year research partnership with Nike, Michael brings a unique and engaging perspective to the commentary on the role of footwear for runners - and is the recipient of the Footwear Biomechanics Group's Applied Research Award in 2019. Michael is also an avid recreational runner himself preparing for his 3rd ultra-marathon in Yakama, WA this May.
Dr Chris Napier
“Running footwear is given too much attention and does not prevent injuries. Gait modification is a much better approach to wide-scale injury management!“
Dr. Chris Napier
Chris is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of British Columbia and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Mechatronic Systems Engineering at Simon Fraser University. He is a Sport Physiotherapist with over 15 years of clinical experience and specializes in the treatment of runners. He is a physiotherapist with Athletics Canada and has been a member of Olympic, Commonwealth, and Pan American Games as well as World Championships medical teams. He obtained his PhD (“Running biomechanics and injury prevention”) at UBC in 2018. His postdoctoral studies explore the use of wearable technology to monitor training load and biomechanics associated with running injury.
Dr. J.F. Esculier
“More runners should use minimalist shoes: they make your feet stronger, reduce impact on your knees and make you run faster!”
Dr. J.F. Esculier
Jean-Francois Esculier (J-F) graduated from the University of Ottawa's physiotherapy program in 2009. Over the past 10 years, he has embraced the role of clinician-researcher, treating runners of all levels (recreational to professional and Olympic athletes) and people with a variety of sports injuries. In addition to completing his Masters and PhD on knee pain in runners, he obtained his Certificate of Sport Physiotherapy (Sport Physiotherapy Canada). J-F is an active researcher interested in knee pain (patellofemoral pain, knee osteoarthritis), running biomechanics and running footwear. He is currently finishing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of British Columbia exploring patient education, running biomechanics, footwear and knee cartilage MRI in older runners with knee osteoarthritis. J-F has been teaching to health professionals internationally with The Running Clinic since 2011 (Canada, USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France).
Shalaya Kipp
“The science linking injuries and shoes is so equivocal that it doesn’t matter - performance is what matters!”
Shalaya Kipp
Shalaya Kipp completed her Masters degree in Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder where she studied the biomechanics and energetics of human running. Currently she is a Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia. Shalaya is a competitive runner, specializing in the 3000m steeplechase. She is an NCAA champion, and 9 time All-American (track and field). Shalaya has represented the United States at the World Championships and Olympic Games (2012).
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