Over the last 30 years, he has worked in the areas of applied physiology, instability, falls and fractures in older people.

Professor Lord's research on falls has followed two main themes: the identification of risk factors and the evaluation of prevention strategies. His studies have involved large prospective population studies and randomised controlled trials for assessing the effectiveness of exercise and targeted programs in improving vision, strength, balance and co-ordination and preventing falls in community dwelling people and residents of retirement villages. His methodology and approach to falls-risk assessment has been adopted by many researchers across the world. With colleagues at Neuroscience Research Australia, he has recently written a comprehensive book on Falls in Older People - published by Cambridge University Press.