Our team

Professor of Physiotherapy, NDORMS, University of Oxford

Visiting Professor, School of Health Sciences, Oxford Brookes University

Karen has been part of the Physiotherapy Research Unit since 1997 and the Director of the Physiotherapy Research Unit since 2000.

She has an MSc in Ergonomics from Loughborough University and a PhD from Oxford Brookes University. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

Her research interests are primarily in the fields of bone health, chronic back pain and joint arthroplasty.

Karen was Clinical Director for the Orthopaedic and Trauma Directorate of Oxford University Hospitals from 2012 to 2022.

She was awarded Professor of Physiotherapy by the University of Oxford in 2017 and an OBE for services to healthcare in 2020.

Francine Toye is an internationally recognised qualitative researcher working at the interface of the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

She has led qualitative research within the Physiotherapy Research Unit for more than 20 years and has been recognised by the University of Oxford for excellence in teaching.

She mentors clinicians, supervises DPhil students, and delivers postgraduate teaching within Oxford University Hospitals, the Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate Group and the Medical Sciences Division.

Francine has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers (Google Scholar h-index 32) and is widely known for her work in chronic pain, women's health, arts-based methods and qualitative evidence synthesis.

Methodological innovations include the seminal mega-ethnography and poetic meta-ethnography, and her future focus is on the implications of GenAI in qualitative enquiry.

Her research is characterised by a strong focus on impact, including contributions to policy, clinical education, and public engagement.

Francine is committed to inclusive, patient-centred research, with particular emphasis on involving patients and the public in analysis and dissemination.

Meredith has worked as a researcher in the Physiotherapy Research Unit since 2005.

Her research interests include physiotherapy rehabilitation and exercise interventions for those with long term conditions that affect bone health. This includes people with fragility fractures due to osteoporosis and spinal conditions such as scoliosis.

Meredith has worked as a physiotherapy clinician in both neurological and musculoskeletal rehabilitation and has been a university lecturer. Since 2022 Meredith has also worked as a Research Advisor at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

Currently she is completing a PhD by Published works at Oxford Brookes University.

She is a principal investigator for the OPT-IN trial that investigates promoting adherence to physiotherapy exercise in people with osteoporosis and vertebral fractures.

Tamsin joined the Physiotherapy Research Unit in November 2013. Her role is to recruit and collect participant data for physiotherapy trials and as an assessor for orthopaedic surgical and rheumatology studies. She has worked on trials about physiotherapy for bone health.

Tamsin has worked as a Band 6 Rotational Physiotherapist with adults and children since 2004.

Tamsin graduated from St Margaret's University, Edinburgh, in 2000 and completed her junior rotations at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Erin joined the Physiotherapy Research Unit in 2016.

Funded by the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Clinical PhD studentship, she completed her PhD in 2021 which explored sagittal spinal curvature and its implication on functional mobility.

Her current areas of research include quantitative and qualitative methods to understand and treat long term musculoskeletal conditions, and the evaluation of clinical measurement tools.

Erin obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology from University of California Los Angeles and received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree from Mount St. Mary's University. She has clinical experience from both the UK and US.

Clare joined the Research Unit in August 2015.

Alongside her clinical role as Occupational Therapist for the Oxford Sarcoma Service, Clare's research focus is on the rehabilitation for sarcoma patients following limb salvage surgery and occupational therapy for musculoskeletal conditions.

Clare previously worked in the musculoskeletal Occupational Therapy service as Occupational Therapy team lead and has worked for the Sarcoma Service since 2008.

Clare graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy and is currently working towards an MSc in Cancer and Research.

Simon joined the Physiotherapy Research Unit in March 2020 after gaining a two-year National Institute Health Research Pre-Doctoral Clinical Research fellowship.

He joined the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in 2005 and has since developed specialist clinical knowledge in musculoskeletal conditions and completed an MSc in advanced manipulative physiotherapy (MMACP) in 2009.

He worked in OxSport at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre since 2006 specialising in sports injuries.

Simon is currently undertaking a PhD at the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) investigating the factors that affect outcome after a physiotherapy-led rehabilitation programme in patients who have femoral acetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS)

Leila Heelas is a Consultant Physiotherapist in Pain Rehabilitation. She gained an MSc in Pain Management in 2011 as well as a PG Cert in Professional Practice and a PG Cert in Business Administration.

Leila joined the research unit in 2020 and as a full-time clinician has been involved in an action research study, has co-authored several papers and published a rapid review regarding individuals with chronic pain who frequently attend the accident and emergency department.

Leila is interested in writing about psychologically informed practice and has published about use of stratification models in pain rehabilitation.

She is currently undertaking a part-time PhD with UCL Social Biobehavioural group using mixed methods to explore social prescribing for people living with chronic pain.

Leila Heelas - Optimise

Pip joined the Physiotherapy Research Unit in 2022. She also holds an Arthritis UK Research Fellowship at the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences at the University of Oxford.

Pip qualified as a Physiotherapist from the University of Otago (New Zealand), and has worked clinically in New Zealand, the UK and Australia.

Her PhD, completed at the University of Melbourne, investigated adherence to exercise among people with knee osteoarthritis.

Pip's research interests focus on combining quantitative and qualitative methods to optimise outcomes for people with hip/knee osteoarthritis, before and after joint replacement surgery and following revision joint surgery.

Philippa Nicolson - NDORMS

Ben joined the Physiotherapy Research Unit in 2022 and works on the Revision Knee Service as a researcher and is currently training as an ACP for the foot and ankle, and hip and knee service at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.

Ben qualified as a physiotherapist in 2016 and completed his PhD in 2020, investigating physical activity, gait biomechanics and fitness in adolescents with motor control deficits.

Ben's research interests involve collecting and tracking data on revision knee surgical outcomes over time.

Georgie joined the Physiotherapy Research Unit in 2023, completing a research internship supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.

In 2024 she became an NIHR Pre-doctoral Research Fellow, sponsored by NDORMS, University of Oxford, and is continuing to study the physiotherapy management of post-traumatic elbow stiffness.

After completing a BSc in Human Biology at Loughborough University, Georgie graduated with an MSc Physiotherapy (Pre-registration) from Oxford Brookes University in 2019.

Georgie also works clinically at the Police Rehabilitation Centre in Goring, Berkshire.