Joel O'Sullivan

Biography

Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist (upper limb therapy team) at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust; NIHR Doctoral Fellowship at Keele. 14 years’ MSK/upper limb experience. Special interests: traumatic brachial plexus injuries, thoracic outlet syndrome, shoulder instability.

Joel has taught and spoken at the University of Birmingham, BSSH, BAHT and CSP. His PhD focuses on designing and testing an optimal blended physiotherapy intervention for Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

Research and scholarship

IMPETUS Study – Optimal Physiotherapy for Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

Three work packages: (1) systematic review of physiotherapy components for NTOS; (2) stakeholder consensus (Nominal Group Technique) and blended intervention/resource development (Physitrack); (3) multi-centre pilot/feasibility RCT with nested qualitative study.

Teaching

Joel has taught and spoken at the University of Birmingham, the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH), the British Association of Hand Therapists (BAHT) and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).

Further information

Research degree: PhD Physiotherapy

School: Allied Health Professions and Pharmacy

Supervision

Supervisors: Dr Claire Stapleton and Professor Jonathan Hill.

Collaborations and grants awards

Key awards include: NIHR DCAF Fellowship (October 2024–2028); NIHR West Midlands Public Involvement Fund; BAHT Conference 2023 Best Free Paper; Birmingham Health Partners Pre-Doctoral Bridging Programme 2022/23.