Professor Di Newham

I qualified as a physiotherapist as a mature student and then worked at University College Hospital in London for two years where I specialised in neurology. I then caught the research bug and was lucky enough to be encouraged and supported by clinicians and academics to obtain research funding and study for an MPhil and then a PhD; both in Physiology at University College London.

Subsequently I moved to King’s College London where I became head of the first academic department of physiotherapy in England and then head of a research division, being appointed to a chair in physiotherapy in 1993.

My expertise is in qualitative research and my focus is on the function and control of human skeletal muscle. I have a particular interest in the rehabilitation of musculo-skeletal and neurological conditions and also ageing.  Over the years I have published just over a hundred original research papers and attracted funding from a number of sources, mainly medical research charities. I have successfully supervised and examined a number of PhD students from various disciplines including clinical (physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, osteopathy) non-clinical (physiology, sport and exercise science) ones.

I was a panel member in the last two Research Assessment Exercises.  I have considerable experience of being a member of grant awarding committees of a number of medical research charities. I am also on the Core Executive of the Allied Health Professionals Research Network (formerly the Physiotherapy Research Network) which is primarily funded through the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.