Dr Lianne Wood

About me:

Lianne is a clinical academic advanced practice spinal physiotherapist. She has expertise across quantitative research methods (prediction modelling, secondary analysis of randomised controlled trials, mediation analysis), evidence synthesis methods (realist review, systematic review and meta-analysis) and more recently, qualitative research methods. She holds a NIHR School for Primary Care Post-doctoral Research Fellowship to explore the diagnostic utility of early symptoms in degenerative cervical myelopathy, and understand barriers and facilitators to receiving a diagnosis. She is also leading a Programme Development Grant to explore prehabilitation for people undergoing surgery for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. She previously was a post-doctoral Early Career Research Fellow of Orthopaedic Research UK, investigating how exercise creates change in outcomes of importance in low back pain. Since January 2023, she is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter. She has been a clinical academic for the past 13 years and has worked as an Advanced Spinal Practitioner in a large tertiary NHS trust in both emergency and routine clinic settings. She continues to maintain a small clinical caseload.

She was born and raised in South Africa, completing both undergraduate and post-graduate studies there before moving to the UK. She is passionate about improving care for people with chronic pain, both through testing treatments, improving pathways to enable access to care for people living with chronic conditions, and improving standards of care for physiotherapists.

Interests:

Lianne’s research primarily focusses on chronic pain and improving pathways and treatments for people with spinal pain. She has been involved in the development, implementation, and analysis of various advanced practice physiotherapy pathways, both in primary and secondary care. Lianne collaborates widely with an international team to deliver her current research. Her current NIHR SPCR fellowship collaborates with a mentorship team from Cambridge, Nottingham, NHS England, NHS GIRFT, and the University of Exeter. Her ORUK fellowship focussed on exercise for chronic low back pain, and exploring how we can optimize exercise prescription in a clinical setting. She collaborated with a team from Canada, Australia and the UK to deliver this fellowship.

She has many years of clinical expertise as an advanced spinal practitioner working in an acute, same day emergency care setting, and on a chronic degenerative pathway. She has worked to improve pathways of care for patients with suspected myelopathy, cauda equina syndrome and other serious pathology within her local Trust. She is also passionate about changing pathways for degenerative cervical myelopathy both in the UK and internationally, and is working with RECODE-DCM to agree international guidance.

Qualifications:

• PhD, Keele University (June 2021); Thesis: Treatment targets and outcomes in randomised controlled trials of exercise for on-specific low back pain. Supervisors: Prof Nadine Foster, Dr Annette Bishop, Dr Martyn Lewis

• MSc Physiotherapy, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa (February 2012); Graduated cum laude; Thesis: The effect of specific stabilising exercises in pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy

• BSc Physiotherapy, University of Cape Town, South Africa (December 2004); Graduated with a distinction in movement science 2004; Ione sellars anatomy award 2002; Class Medal for Anatomy and Human Biology 2002; Academic Scholarship 2001-2004; Thesis: The Health-Related Quality of Life Scale reliability and validity in a South African populace