As the inaugural director of Alvernia's John R. Post School of Engineering, Joseph Mahoney, Ph.D., is used to seeing his name in print. But a recent publication was extra special.
"What running with a jogging stroller does to your body," an article co-authored by longtime research partner Allison Altman Singles was published in May in The Washington Post.
The duo submitted a pitch to independent nonprofit the Conversation in the spring after realizing their research had the potential to appeal to a larger audience, especially people with experience pushing a jogging stroller.
"We wrote the article with that audience in mind," Mahoney said. "After we submitted it,The Washington Post, a partner of the Conversation, selected it for publication. That was the first time we had been featured in a national outlet, and it was a really exciting experience."
Mahoney became interested in how running form affects injury during graduate school. His research focused on differences in human motion, specifically in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Although that work did not involve running, it introduced him to the field of biomechanics.
Singles and Mahoney met while working together at Penn State Berks. Soon after Mahoney joined Alvernia, Singles' gait lab received a major upgrade, giving the researchers the tools to collect high-quality running data. That led to the establishment of the deliciously named Biomechanics and Gait Evaluation Laboratory, or BaGEL.
Each summer, they co-mentor a team of five undergraduate students, featuring participants from Penn State's kinesiology program and the engineering programs at both institutions.
Since 2022, they've shared their research through about a dozen conference posters and presentations, including international, national and regional meetings of the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB). Their article chronicling the forces and torques on the lower body is under peer review. They plan to submit a second article, focused on joint and limb angles, by the end of the summer.
"Running with your child in a jogging stroller can be fun and empowering, but is it safe?" Mahoney and Singles wrote in the Post piece. The answer? It's complicated.
"The most surprising outcome from our data analysis so far has been the increase in twisting at the foot during stroller running," Mahoney said. "The reduction in force on the foot and leg makes sense in hindsight, since runners are typically leaning into the stroller as they push it forward. However, the increased twisting was unexpected and may be linked to a higher risk of overuse injury. We are currently exploring the potential causes of this finding in follow-up studies."
Mahoney and Singles have been overwhelmed by the reach of their research, mostly due to their Post placement.
"Across all the outlets where it appeared, it has been accessed nearly 100,000 times," Mahoney said. "That is far beyond the reach of most academic papers. It was even translated into Portuguese. The response reminded us that this kind of work can inform not just scientists, but the public as well."
