Dr. PARKES Rebecca Sarah Victoria

Dr. Rebecca Parkes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. She graduated from the Royal Veterinary College with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine with Honours in 2010. Following a period of time in clinical practice, she returned to the Royal Veterinary College in to undertake a PhD in equine locomotor biomechanics, supported by a scholarship from the Horserace Betting Levy Board. Rebecca moved to Hong Kong to work as an Equestrian Veterinary Surgeon at the Hong Kong Jockey club in 2015 where she was involved in the rehabilitation of retired racehorses and providing veterinary care for the 600 horses engaged in equestrian sport in Hong Kong. During this time Rebecca also joined the Training and Selection Subcommittee for the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation.

Rebecca moved to City University of Hong Kong in 2019 to pursue her passion for research and teaching.

Rebecca’s research interests lie in equine locomotor biomechanics and the development of evidence based clinical teaching tools. She has studied epidemiological factors associated with foot disease in the horse and the donkey, and during her PhD investigated the effects of training and the external environment on limb loading and gait adaptations in the Thoroughbred racehorse. Previous teaching related projects include the development of a mixed-reality feline abdominal palpation simulator and assessing the limitations of human detection of asymmetry as it relates to lameness in the horse.

Rebecca’s current research projects include major projects on donkey welfare, investigating   biomechanical and physiological assessment of the load carrying capacity of the working donkey and an ECS funded project investigating hoof-ground interactions in the donkey. Her current educational research focusses on the development of novel technologies for teaching clinical skills to veterinary students and a CIVME funded project on the effects of COVID-19 on clinical skills teaching.