Who we are

Professor Catherine Sherrington

PhD, MPH, BAppSc(Physiother), FACP, FAHMS

Cathie leads the Physical Activity, Ageing and Disability theme within the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health. Her research focuses on physical activity interventions to prevent falls and enhance mobility in older people and people with physical disabilities. She is one of the founders of PEDro.

Clinical Associate Professor Mark Elkins

PhD, MHSc, BA, BPhty

Mark teaches research methods to clinicians and mentors workplace-based research in the Sydney Local Health District. His personal research interests include: physical and pharmacological therapies in respiratory disease; co-ordinating these therapies to maximise the overall effect; and improving the understanding and application of published research by clinicians. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor in the Sydney Medical School and the Scientific Editor of Journal of Physiotherapy.

Professor Steven Kamper

PhD, BAppSc(Physio), BSc(Hons)

Steve’s role as Professor of Allied Health is to train and support clinicians to conduct research as part of their clinical activities. The aim is to produce practice-relevant research embedded in day-to-day healthcare delivery. His research blends perspectives from the clinical treatment of pain with public health approaches to lifestyle-related health behaviours, in children and adults.

Dr Adrian Traeger

PhD, MPhty, BSc(Hons)

Adrian is an National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) Early Career Fellow at The University of Sydney. His research interests include clinical management of back pain, patient education, and overuse of healthcare. He joined the PEDro Steering Committee in 2021.

Dr Natalie Collins

PhD, MSportsPhysio, BPhty(Hons)

Natalie is an Australian Physiotherapy Association Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist and Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at The University of Queensland. Her research centres around improving the lives of people with patellofemoral pain conditions, including adolescents and young adults with patellofemoral pain, and older adults with patellofemoral osteoarthritis. She joined the PEDro Steering Committee in 2021.

Dr Zoe Michaleff

PhD, BAppSc(Physiotherapy)

Zoe is the Research Operations Manager for Northern New South Wales Local Health District. She aims to support healthcare professional’s journey as they navigate the evidence maze from research users to research participants and eventually research leaders. Zoe is also passionate about making evidence-based information more accessible and useable by healthcare professionals and patients. Her research focuses on evidence-based diagnosis, prognosis, and sustainable management of health conditions across the life course. She joined the PEDro Steering Committee in 2021.

Dr Anita Amorim

PhD, BPhty(Hons)

Anita is a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at The University of Sydney. Her research focuses on innovative and evidence-based management of chronic musculoskeletal pain across the implementation science spectrum, from the discovery of effective treatments to translation within the healthcare system. Her research aims to reduce unnecessary healthcare utilisation in people with musculoskeletal pain through behavioural change. She joined the PEDro Steering Committee in 2022.

Associate Professor Leanne Hassett

PhD, MHlthSc(NeuroPhty), BAppSc(Phty)

Leanne is a teaching and research academic at the University of Sydney and leads the Capacity and Capability stream in the Implementation Science Program within Sydney Health Partners. She conducts research to test the effectiveness of interventions to improve mobility and physical activity in older adults and adults living with disability and to evaluate the implementation of effective interventions into practice. She joined the PEDro Steering Committee in 2022.

Dr Kelly Gray

SFHEA, PhD, BAppSc(Physio)

Kelly is a Senior Lecturer in the Doctor of Physiotherapy at Macquarie University. As a Teaching and Leadership academic, she has a keen focus on empowering the implementation of evidence-based physiotherapy to the next generation of physiotherapists. Her research interests include paediatric physiotherapy and ethics. She joined the PEDro Steering Committee in 2022.

Professor Leonardo Oliveira Pena Costa

Universidade Cidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Leo is the Head of the Masters and Doctoral Programs in Physical Therapy in the Universidade Cidade de São Paulo. His research focuses on the effects of non-pharmacological interventions for people with low back pain.

Professor Rebecca L Craik

Arcadia University, USA

Beck is the Dean of the College of Health Sciences at Arcadia University, having served previously as the Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy. A theme that threads through her research is adaptability, whether she is working with the older adult or examining animal models of human disease. She is co-principal investigator for the Improving Community Ambulation After Hip Fracture trial.

Professor Sally Green

Monash University, Australia

Sally is the Co-Director of Cochrane Australia. She is an active Cochrane reviewer. Her research aims to improve health outcomes by investigating the most effective and efficient pathway of knowledge from research result to sustained change in clinical practice and policy.

Professor Sallie Lamb

University of Exeter, UK

Sallie is the Mireille Gillings Professor of Health Innovation at the University of Exeter. She is an internationally recognised scholar in ageing, disability and rehabilitation. She is also an experienced methodologist in the area of clinical trials and high quality evaluation of health care practice.

Professor Philip van der Wees

Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands

Philip is a senior researcher at the Scientific Institute for Quality of Healthcare (IQ Healthcare) of Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. His research projects are aimed at quality, implementation, and evaluation of healthcare. One of his main areas of research is the development and implementation of clinical practice guidelines.

Professor Christopher Maher

Institute for Musculoskeletal Health at the University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Australia

Chris is a professor at The University of Sydney School of Public Health. His research aims to improve the care provided to people with back pain. He is one of the founders of PEDro.