Academic biography

Cliona is Full Professor in Physiotherapy at Dublin City University. She worked as a clinical physiotherapist for 10 years in Ireland, the UK and Burkina Faso. She has substantial engagement with physiotherapy and health professions education for more than 20 years, first as Clinical Teacher (Trinity College Dublin) and Lecturer, and later Associate Professor in University College Dublin. She has led the development of professional physiotherapy programmes and several initiatives relating to intercultural learning and internationalisation of the student experience.

Her research spans musculoskeletal health, health systems and global health and she collaborates with clinical partners, international universities and NGOs to understand barriers to access services and develop, implement and evaluate innovative solutions and models of care, including technology enabled care pathways, in areas such as low back pain, paediatric orthopaedics, and pelvic health. Current research projects focus on health system strengthening;  and include co-creation of musculoskeletal digital clinical decision support systems for GPs (Ireland) and frontline community-based health workers (Uganda); and understanding barriers to rehabilitation for women with disabilities (Ethiopia and Cambodia).

She has represented World Physiotherapy (previously World Confederation for Physical Therapy, WCPT) at World Health Organisation (WHO) meetings relating to rehabilitation and was a member of the WHO Development Group for Priority Interventions for Osteoarthritis. She is a registered physiotherapist with CORU, the Health and Social Care Professions Council of Ireland and a member of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP). She is a Visiting Full Professor at the School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science at University College Dublin.