Alan Wilson qualified from Glasgow University with physiology and veterinary degrees and from the University of Bristol with a PhD on tendon injury mechanisms. He joined the Royal Veterinary College in 1996.

His research goal is to understand how the musculoskeletal system of athletic animals is configured and used to deliver economical and high-performance locomotion, and the mechanical factors that limit locomotor performance and result in injury. His team has developed and used novel sensor systems and wildlife collars using GPS and inertial sensors. These, and the experimental aircraft systems they have developed, have advanced data quality, quantity and resolution in field research. He has characterised the anatomical features that enable fast running and linked them to muscle power and efficiency and the role of tendon energy storage in delivering economical and versatile locomotion. His work has ranged from the mechanical basis of corrective shoeing, lameness and its treatment in horses though tendon mechanics, injuries and rehabilitation in human athletes to the performance tradeoffs and dynamics of predator-prey interaction in cursorial African mammals.