Anna Leclercq

I graduated as a veterinarian at SLU in january 2021. My master's thesis is entitled Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and the effect on apoptosis in early porcine embryo development in vitro. 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. With growing herd sizes, visual assessment becomes more challenging. In later years, a lot of work has been aimed towards developing tools for automatic lameness detection. However, the prevalence of lameness remains high. In equine practice, systems for objective gait analysis where vertical 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, which can indicate lameness, in the gaits of dairy cows. Using videos of lame and sound cows, our research group also wants to improve visual lameness detection among e.g. animal cartakers and veterinary students

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

Main supervisor: Marie Rhodin

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

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

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

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, 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