Professor Caroline Alexander (Course Director)

Caroline Alexander is the Lead Clinical Academic for Therapies at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Adjunct Reader. She has a Motor Control Laboratory situated in the Physiotherapy Department of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. She is also a member of the Human Performance group in the Department of Surgery and Cancer led by Alison McGregor (Professor of Musculoskeletal Biodynamics, Surgery & Cancer).

She has held a position as a clinical specialist and researcher within the Physiotherapy Department of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust since 2003.  Her research interests include investigation of the cortical and reflex control of movement using transcranial magnetic stimulation and electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves. She is particularly interested in the control of movement in healthy people and in people with musculoskeletal problems such as Joint Hypermobility Syndrome and shoulder instability.

Gemma Clunie
Gemma Clunie is an HEE/NIHR Clinical Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College. She works as a Clinical Specialist Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust within the National Centre for Airway Reconstruction.

Dr Donna Kennedy
Donna Kennedy is an NIHR Imperial BRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Pain Research Group, Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College London (ICL) and Clinical Specialist in Hand Therapy at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHT). Donna has extensive clinical experience with expertise in hand trauma and acquired, rheumatologic and surgical conditions of the hand and upper limb. Donna has a BSc in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University and an MSc in Health Sciences from the University of East Anglia. In 2018 she completed an NIHR funded Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship, receiving a PhD in Pain Research from ICL. Her Doctoral work investigates the association of neuropathic pain phenotype with the outcome of carpal tunnel surgery. 

Dr Lisa Newington
Dr Lisa Newington is a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Her current work explores the impact of clinical academics from the professions outside medicine, that is all research-active healthcare professionals except doctors and dentists. Lisa’s clinical research interests also include upper limb injury and rehabilitation.

Lisa is an Accredited Hand Therapist (BAHT) and works clinically as an Advanced Clinical Practice Hand Therapist (Physiotherapy) at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Ms Maria Piggin
Maria Piggin is the Partnerships and Training Manager within the Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC) providing public involvement training, advice and support primarily to the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre but also to a number of research teams across Imperial College including the Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Modelling Methodology.

Dr Mary Wells
Mary Wells is the Lead Nurse for Research at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and a Professor of Practice in Cancer Nursing at Imperial College.  As Lead Nurse for Research at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Mary is leading the development of clinical academic careers and research in nursing and midwifery, and is part of the CATO team to mentor and support nurses and midwives who wish to pursue a clinical academic role.

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