Physiotherapy clinical practice acknowledges that the most important person in healthcare is the patient and contemporary practice involves taking a biopsychosocial approach to empower individuals to maximize their full functional potential, reduce disability and improve their quality of life.
The Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science’s Research Strategy is to add knowledge to the current research base to improve clinical practice and by doing so aims to improve quality of life for individuals, communities and society.
The Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science’s Research Strategy is aligned to and supports the Qatar University (QU) Health Research Strategy.
The five pillars of the QU Health Research Strategy are:
- Cardiology and Neurology
- Communicable Diseases
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Health Profession Education
Common to all these themes is the need to have expertly educated healthcare practitioners whose primary focus is the delivery of evidence-based patient centred care. Essential to all these themes and embedded within physical therapy practice and education is the crucial role of activity, exercise, motivation, enhancement of self-efficacy, self-management and healthy lifestyles to maximise healthcare outcomes.
Research Expertise
The newly created Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science currently benefits from a wealth of research experience and expertise. The Department is led by Emma Stokes PhD who is also the current President of the WCPT World Confederation for Physical Therapy which is the sole international body for the profession globally.
We encourage you to follow our team on twitter.
Dr. Emma Stokes @ekstokes has an international reputation for qualitative, education and leadership research, and she has led international teams, with co-researchers from Canada, UK, Africa, Ireland and Australia on advancing practice and leadership.
Dr. Linzette Morris @ldmorris29 completed her undergraduate degree in Physiotherapy at the University of the Western Cape, in South Africa, and then her double masters (MSc Physiotherapy and MSc in Clinical Epidemiology) and PhD at the Stellenbosch University, also in South Africa. Prior to joining Qatar University, she was a senior lecturer at Stellenbosch University, South Africa for nearly seven years. She has worked as a clinician in private and public sectors, and predominately worked in orthopaedic/neuromuscular settings. Her PhD focussed on exploring the possibility of using Virtual Reality exposure therapy to reduce exercise-related pain catastrophizing among South African patients with fibromyalgia. The work built on her earlier work, which also involved Virtual reality, but were it was explored as a distraction technique for patients with burn injuries undergoing physiotherapy management. Dr. Morris has been involved in a variety of research areas (i.e. musculoskeletal disorders, rehabilitation, pain sciences, virtual reality, HIV/Aids, health systems, cerebrovascular disease/stroke, biomechanics, psychiatry and physiotherapy, etc.) and has collaborated with other institutions in South Africa and Africa, as well as institutions in Sweden, Belgium and Australia. Her main research interests are in pain science, cross-cultural adaptation of outcome measures, disease epidemiology and measurement, musculoskeletal disorders as well as understanding the human and economic value of rehabilitation within various settings. She has presented at various international conferences and has twenty publications in numerous international journals, one book chapter and recently a submitted chapter for a stroke eBook. She has supervised sixteen PG students, of which three are PhD students to date.
Dr. Sean McAuliffe @seaniemc89 graduated from the University of Limerick, Ireland with a first-class honours degree in Physiotherapy (BSc). Subsequently he also obtained a Doctorate Degree at the University of limerick, Ireland investigating the role of a biopsychosocial approach to lower limb tendinopathy. He has presented his research work at a variety of international research conferences and events.
Clinically, he has held a range of clinical roles in areas of sports medicine, pain management and musculoskeletal rehabilitation in public and private settings. Prior to joining Qatar University Sean held the role of Clinical Research Scientist at Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital where he helped facilitate the translation and integration of research into clinical care. His research interest is in the area of physical activity and health promotion in chronic diseases.
Mariem Sirine Latrous @Myriam_O has successfully completed her MSc in and is now planning her PhD. Her main areas of research interest are education, curriculum and instruction in higher education, pain and big data in health care.
Prof. Jeremy Lewis @JeremyLewisPT has over 150 peer reviewed publications, book chapters and has edited and authored professional textbooks including the 4th edition of Grieve’s Modern Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy (Elsevier). He is currently supervising 5 PhD candidates and has international research collaborations. Currently Professor Lewis is leading or collaborating in over 10 active research projects in various stages of completion across several countries. His average research output is between 10-15 peer reviewed publications, 1 book chapter and approximately 5 keynote lectures per year. Research commenced or completed during his tenure at Qatar University will acknowledge the Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, the College of Health Sciences, and the University.
Current Research Publications
Members of the department have submitted the following publications which acknowledge the Department, the College and the University.
Book Chapters
Powell J & Lewis J. Frozen Shoulder, in Enrique Lluch E (Ed) Pattern Recognition of Clinical Syndromes related to Neuromusculoskeletal Pain Disorders. Zerapi S.C. (accepted)
Peer Reviewed Journals
- Vicenzino B, de Vos R-J, Alfredson H, Bahr B, Cook JL, Coombes B, Ngor Fu S, Gravare Silbernagel K,
- Grimaldi A, Lewis J, Maffulli N, Magnusson SP, Malliaras P, McAuliffe S, Oei H, Purdam C, Rees J, Rio E, Scott A, Speed C, van den Akker-Scheek I, Weir A, Moriatis Wolf J, Zwerver J (accepted) ICON 2019—International Scientific Tendinopathy Symposium Consensus: there are nine core health related domains for tendinopathy (core domains): Delphi study of healthcare professionals and patients. British Journal of Sports Medicine. (IF 11.645)
- Lewis J, Cook C, Hoffmann T, O’Sullivan P (accepted) The elephant in the room. Too much medicine in musculoskeletal practice. Journal or Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy. (IF 3.09)
- Deville G, Gibson J, Lewis J (accepted) Rotator cuff tears. Surgical or non-surgical management. Development of a patient decision aid. Kinésithérapie la Revue.
- McGowan E, Stokes EK (2019) Leadership in physiotherapy: experience of leaders of physiotherapy professional organisations. BMJ Leader doi:10.1136/leader-2019-000185Pieters L, Struyf F, Lewis J (In Press) Umbrella review of systematic reviews of the effectiveness of non-surgical interventions for subacromial shoulder pain: an update. Journal or Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy. (IF 3.09)
- Brady N, McVeigh J, McCreesh K, Lewis J (submitted) The use of virtual reality in the management of musculoskeletal conditions. A narrative review. Physical Therapy Reviews.
- Lewis J, Stokes E, Gojanovic B, Gellatly P, Mbada C, Sharma S, Diener I, Mbada C, O’Sullivan P (submitted) Reframing how we care for people with persistent non-traumatic musculoskeletal pain. From editorial to (the start of) action. Journal or Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy.
- Salamh P, Lewis J (submitted) Time to draw a line in the sand? The not so special orthopedic shoulder tests. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy.
- De Búrca N, Barrett E, McCreesh K, Lewis J (being prepared for submission) Frozen Shoulder. A systematic review of the clinical effectiveness of surgical procedures for primary-idiopathic frozen shoulder. [planned journal: Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy
- J. White, M. Jepson, S. McAuliffe, K. Cridland, P. Malliaris∗, T. Haines “Patient education – you do not have the time not to do this”. A qualitative exploration of expert clinician attitudes of education in the management of rotator cuff tendinopathy. October 2019 Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 22:S9. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2019.08.115
- Rio EK, Mc Auliffe S, Kuipers I, et al ICON PART-T 2019–International Scientific Tendinopathy Symposium Consensus: recommended standards for reporting participant characteristics in tendinopathy research (PART-T) British Journal of Sports Medicine Published Online First: 13 September 2019. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2019-100957
- Scott A, Squier K, Alfredson H, Mc Auliffe S et al ICON 2019: International Scientific Tendinopathy Symposium Consensus: Clinical Terminology. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Published Online First: 09 August 2019. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2019-100885
- McAuliffe S, Tabuena A, McCreesh K, O'Keeffe M, Hurley J, Comyns T, Purtill H, O'Neill S, O'Sullivan K. Altered Strength Profile in Achilles Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Athletic Training. 2019 Aug;54(8):889-900. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-43-18. Epub 2019 Aug 6.
- Zwerver J, Mc Auliffe S, Vicenzino B Rio E, Scott A, Weir A. ICON 2019--International Scientific Tendinopathy Symposium: Building an ICONic tendon tower— launching a new era in clinical tendinopathy research. British Journal of Sports Medicine. In Press – British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Turner J, Malliaras P, Goulis J, S Mc Auliffe. “It's disappointing and it's pretty frustrating, because it feels like it's something that will never go away.” A qualitative study exploring individuals’ beliefs and experiences of Achilles tendinopathy. 2019 (being prepared for submission)
- Berner K, Strijdom H, Essop M, Webster I, Morris L, Louw Q: Fall history and associated factors among adults living with HIV-1 in the Cape Winelands, South Africa: an exploratory investigation.
- Morris L, Batt J, Boateng P, De Waal H, Jordaan E, Lockyer M, van Zyl M, Witten D. Effect of virtual reality, in conjunction with standard analgesia, on pain, anxiety and range-of-motion in patients with burn injuries undergoing painful procedures compared to standard analgesia alone: a systematic review and meta-analyses. (submitted)
- Morris L, Johannes L, Kitshoff T, Maritz C, Nel C, Rossouw P, van Straaten C. The effectiveness of physiotherapy versus standard medical care on pain, functional disability, kinesiophobia and pain catastrophisation in adult patients with non-specific acute low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis (submitted)
- Morris L, Inglis G, Titus A, Brink Y, De Klerk S. Complexities related to the measurement of activity, participation and quality of life among people with stroke within the African context: a scoping review (chapter in eBook “Contextual implications and evidence-based guidance to optimise functioning in African stroke survivors - submitted).
Conferences
- Lewis J. (Keynote Speaker)
Virtual reality in the management of shoulder pain. Is seeing, believing and achieving?
Paris Shoulder Summit, Paris, France. 4-5 October 2019 https://www.pss2019.com/english
- Lewis J. (Keynote Speaker)
Rotator Cuff Related Shoulder Pain. The (very) strong case for physiotherapy management.
Paris Shoulder Summit, Paris, France. 4-5 October 2019 https://www.pss2019.com/english
- Lewis J. (Invited Speaker)
Frozen Shoulder: Don’t be left out in the cold.
Aspetar Medical Education ‘Tuesday Lecture’, Aspetar Hospital, Doha, Qatar. 15 January 2019
- Mc Auliffe S. (Keynote Speaker & Member of organising Committee)
Looking beyond the tendon in tendinopathy: The emerging role of psychosocial factors? International Conference on Medicine and Science in Athletics – Qatar. 3-5 May 2019.
- Stokes EK (Invited speaker)
Leadership in sports physiotherapy. 3rd World Congress of Sports Physiotherapy, Vancouver 5 October 2019
- Stokes EK (Keynote speaker)
Leadership in physiotherapy education – the ‘so what’ question. European Network of Physiotherapy in Higher Education (ENPHE), Groningen 12 October 2019
- Stokes EK (Keynote speaker)
From a distance: perspectives on global physiotherapy. Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists, 9 November 2019