Anna Leclercq

I graduated as a veterinarian at SLU in january 2021. After graduating, i started as a research assistant in the biomechanics group at AFB in february 2021. I then started my PhD (preliminary title: Lameness detection in dairy cows) in january 2022. 

Apart from conducting research, I spend 20% of my time teaching anatomy, primarily for veterinary students but also for veterinary nursing students and agronomy students. 

Today, lameness and orthopedic disease is common in dairy cows, and has a negative impact on animal welfare and economy. Manual lameness assessment is time consuming and flawed due to its inherent subjectivity, and refined methods are needed to detect lameness at an early stage.

In equine practice, systems for objective gait analysis where movement asymmetries are quantified with the use of body-mounted sensors or camera systems are growing in popularity. These systems can detect very small deviations from perfect symmetry, and thus help clinicians overcome limitations posed by the human eye. In my PhD project, I will explore the possibility to use such techniques to detect changes indicative of lameness in walking dairy cows. Thus, we will contribute with a base of knowledge which can be built upon in the future development of computer vision-based surveillance systems, where the movement pattern of animals can be continuously monitored without the need for body-mounted sensors. 

I also take part in different research projects involving biomechanics and objective gait analysis in horses. 

Main supervisor: Elin Hernlund

Assistant supervisors: Marie Rhodin (SLU), Filipe Serra Braganca (Utrecht University), Niclas Högberg (SLU), Pia Haubro Andersen (SLU)

Leclercq A, Ask K, Mellbin Y, Byström A, Serra Braganca F M, Söderlind M, et al. (2024) Kinematic changes in dairy cows with induced hindlimb lameness: transferring methodology from the field of equine biomechanics. Animal 18(9): 101269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2024.101269

Leclercq A, Lundblad J, Persson-Sjodin E, Ask K, Zetterberg E, et al. (2023) Perceived sidedness and correlation to vertical movement asymmetries in young warmblood horses. PLOS ONE 18(7): e0288043. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.028804

Zetterberg E, Leclercq A, Persson-Sjodin E, Lundblad J, Haubro Andersen P, Hernlund E, et al. (2023) Prevalence of vertical movement asymmetries at trot in Standardbred and Swedish Warmblood foals. PLoS ONE 18(4): e0284105. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284105

Leclercq A, Ranefall P, Sjunnesson YCB, Hallberg I (2022) Occurrence of late-apoptotic symptoms in porcine preimplantation embryos upon exposure of oocytes to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) under in vitro meiotic maturation. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279551. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279551

Leclercq A, Byström A, Söderlind M, Persson E, Rhodin M, Engell MT and Hernlund E (2022) Evaluation of feedback methods for improved detection of hindlimb lameness in horses among riding instructors and trainers. Front. Vet. Sci. 9:992954. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.99295

https://www.slu.se/en/departments/Animal-Biosciences/forskningsprojekt/for-a-long-animal-life/