Dr. Allison Gruber is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology within the School of Public Health–Bloomington at Indiana University. Dr. Gruber earned her Masters degree at East Carolina University and her PhD in Kinesiology from University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Gruber is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and currently serves on the ACSM Board of Trustees as well as the Editorial Board of two scientific journals: Journal of Biomechanics (editorial consultant) and Footwear Science (associate editor). Recently, Dr. Gruber served as an invited Guest Editor for a special issue of Frontiers in Sports and Active Living titled, “Foot Strike Patterns and Footwear for Running Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation: Where Are We Know?” and Chairperson of the ACSM Biomechanics Interest Group.

Dr. Gruber’s research focuses on the mechanics of gait, with a particular focus on running and the mechanisms for running injury development. Her research incorporates biomechanics, dynamical systems theory, and measurements of metabolic cost. Some of her most research has incorporated mobile devices to track running and non-running physical activity behaviors as well as detect periods of elevated musculoskeletal injury risk. Other aspects of her research include footwear, foot strike patterns, and the role of fatigue on the mechanisms for running-related injuries. The overall goal of Dr. Gruber’s research is to identify the interaction of multiple gait and training variables to reveal individualized risk factors for running injury development. This goal will lead to successful injury prevention strategies and interventions to keep current runners injury free and to safely introduce new exercisers into running.