Supervisor research projects
Camila Quel De Oliveira
Current Research projects
- Robotics for arm and hand training after spinal cord injuries. This project is investigating users perceptions about the use of robotics to rehabilitate the arm and hand after an spinal cord injuries. We are also looking at potential changes in arm and hand function after 10 training sessions.
- Building a data-base of community-based services for people with a neurological condition. In this project, we are building a database and analysing outcome data from people attending a community-based exercise services for people with disability. We aim to investigate if community-based services can help people with disabilities to achieve their functional outcomes.
- Physical activity levels in older adults with a spinal cord injury. This project is investigating the levels of participation in physical activity of people living with a spinal cord injury in the community to verify if they are meeting the guidelines recommendations. We are also investigating the barriers and facilitators for engaging in physical activity in this population.
Future projects
- Telerehabilitation for people with neurological conditions. In partnership with a mobile app called Maslow, we want to investigate the potential benefits of interventions delivered remotely in people with neurological conditions.
- Robotics for arm and hand training after spinal cord injuries. Once we have a better understanding of the potential effects of this therapy, we aim to expand this study.
- Interventions to increase physical activity participation in people with a spinal cord injury.
I am interested in discussing any projects that are aimed at improving health and functional outcomes in people with neurological disabilities, with a special interest in spinal cord injuries an stroke.
Read more about Camila Quel De Oliveira.
Dr Poonam Mehta
Dr Poonam Mehta is an early-mid career academic and researcher with nearly seven years of teaching experience.
She is a trained Pediatrics physiotherapist and has completed her undergraduate degree (Bachelors of Physiotherapy- 2007) and Masters Study (Masters of Physiotherapy in Pediatrics- 2009) in India.
After working as a Lecturer in India (2009-2011), she moved to New Zealand to start her PhD at the School of Physiotherapy, University of Otago. Her doctoral research was in the area of Neuropathic pain and was completed in 2015 with a thesis entitled “Neuropathic pain: Outcome measures and their psychometric properties”. This study focused on identifying reliable and valid outcomes measures for diabetic neuropathic pain. During her PhD, she worked as a distant lecturer at the Angelia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, Essex, UK.
After her graduation, Poonam worked as an Assistant Research Fellow at the National Science Challenge- Ageing Well, hosted by the University of Otago, New Zealand (2017-2018).
Poonam has her teaching interests in Outpatient rehabilitation and Prevention and Rehabilitation in the Community. Her research interests are in health and wellbeing throughout the span of ageing; her approaches have included Systematic reviews, clinical trials, qualitative research, and observational longitudinal studies.
Read more about Dr Poonam Mehta.
Joshua Pate
Current Research projects
- A Child’s Concept of Pain. Building upon my PhD findings there are a range of studies underway using the Concept of Pain Inventory (COPI).
- Bridging the Gap between the Health and Education Sectors regarding Paediatric Pain. My PhD student Rebecca Fechner is leading the charge into research in schools about the potential role of teachers engaging with the latest pain science research.
- Upskilling and training non-technical skills of community clinicians working with children challenged by chronic pain. My PhD student Jen Norton is undertaking her PhD to explore how variables like empathy influence clinical interactions, in the context of improving future professional development education.
- Pain Smart: Integrating education and clinical care for adolescents with pain. This $1.24 million grant led by Prof Steven Kamper involves a large multi-site randomised-controlled trial in schools.
- A gamified sensory training technology for youth with chronic pain (‘TrainPain’). This US$150,000 (~AU$255,000) grant led by Prof Laura Simons involves a collaboration with the paediatric pain clinic affiliated with Stanford University.
- Physiotherapy Student Surveys (PhySS). This larger ongoing series of projects involves longitudinal assessments of MPhysio student attributes and beliefs
- PETAL (Pain Education Team Aspiring better Learning) group. I am part of this large, ambitious, collaborative project.
- Pain Online. The way that pain is portrayed in the media and online may not be evidence-informed, and so this series of projects relates to concepts like ‘Dr Google’.
Future projects
- Public Pain Messaging. The latest evidence around potentially helpful messages about pain has not yet reached broader society in a way that other initiatives has (eg. ‘Slip Slop Slap’, tobacco cessation, seatbelt wearing). This line of research involves mixed methods and a co-design approach to public pain-related messaging.
- Virtual Reality for people challenged by persisting pain in rural and remote Australia. In a large multidisciplinary collaboration we are working toward equipping rural clinicians with the latest technology to improve health outcomes.
- Paediatric Pain Clinical studies. Several brilliant collaborative efforts are commencing in the field of childhood pain
I am interested in discussing any projects broadly related to those listed above. So please do feel free to reach out.
Read more about Dr Joshua Pate.
Dr Peter Stubbs
My overall research goals are to improve physiotherapy practice, enhance research ‘literacy’ in students/practitioners and better patient outcomes. With this in mind, my research interests include:
- Neurorehabilitation (particularly acquired brain injury)
- UTS-Physiotherapy STUDent SurveY (PHYSS study) - Assessing student knowledge / perceptions on areas of Physiotherapy taught in the UTS Masters of Physiotherapy program
- Developing, Implementing, evaluating and using research databases to improve patient outcomes
- Meta-epidemiological research including abstract spin, trial pre-registration and quality of reporting of systematic reviews
- Using emerging techniques/technologies (i.e., Virtual Reality, Blood Flow Restriction and Robotics) to improve strength and function in older people and people following neurological injuries
- Investigating the effectiveness of interventions for neck pain in people with work related neck pain.
I would love to chat to or work with anyone (student or academic) who has similar goals and interests.
Read more about Dr Peter Stubbs.
Anthony Nasser
Anthony's research focuses on musculoskeletal pain and injury with an emphasis on sport and physical activity, where there is a need for evidence-based approaches to assessment, management and prevention.
Read more about Anthony Nasser.
Dr Bruno Saragiotto
Dr Bruno T Saragiotto is a physiotherapist and senior lecturer at the discipline of physiotherapy at UTS. Bruno has published over 90 research articles and has over 3,000 citations on his work. The overarching focus of his research is on telehealth for chronic pain conditions, innovation in rehabilitation, and implementation science.
He is also an editor at the Cochrane Musculoskeletal group and associate editor at the Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy and the Chiropractic and Manual Therapy journal. He hosts the podcast Physio Frontiers that aims to bridge the gap between research and practice, and co-leads the PEDro Brazil, which is a satellite of the Physiotherapy Evidence Database in Brazil.
Bruno is passionate about teaching physiotherapy and supervise research-focused master and PhD students. Bruno has strong collaborations in Australia, Canada, Brazil, USA, Netherlands, Denmark, and New Zealand.
Current research projects
- The REABILITADOR trial: Evaluation of the efficacy of an internet-based pain education and exercise program for chronic musculoskeletal pain in comparison with online self-management booklet: a randomised controlled trial with assessor-blinded, 12-month follow-up, and economic evaluation.
- The EDUCADOR trial: Implementation of an Online Pain Education for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in the Brazilian Public Health System: a Hybrid Type III Randomised Controlled Trial with Economic Evaluation.
- Telehealth curricula for higher education: A Delphi project on the development of skills and competencies to teach telehealth at higher education.
- Telehealth terminologies and research priorities in the musculoskeletal field: A Delphi project to develop a consensus on the most appropriate terminology for telehealth and development of a research agenda for telehealth.
- The effectiveness of telerehabilitation for chronic pain conditions, umbrella project for three Cochrane reviews on low back pain, neck pain and osteoarthritis.
- The Cochrane Exercise Network for low back pain. Umbrella project for 9 Cochrane reviews on exercise for low back pain and a living network meta-analysis.
Read more about Dr Bruno Saragiotto.
Luke Jenkins
Luke is a physiotherapist who works with people experiencing musculoskeletal pain.
He has conducted research investigating how neurobiology contributes to the transition from acute to chronic low back pain.
This research has been published in leading journals such as PAIN and he has presented this work both nationally and internationally.
Current projects
- Longitudinal “multi-omic” profiling: molecular mechanisms driving the transition from acute to chronic low back pain
- Exploring corticomotor excitability during the transition from acute to chronic low back pain
- description of the cohort this data was collected from can be viewed here: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.24.21266794
- Does psychological status mediate low back pain related disability after confounder adjustment
- study protocol available here: https://osf.io/q8wf6/
- Investigating the quality of dry needling systematic reviews in musculoskeletal pain.
- Qualitative exploration of physiotherapists experiences with dry needling.
Read more about Luke Jenkins.
