People in CPR Spine

Research Fellows

Valter Devecchi

Qualifications:

• BSc Sport & Exercise Science, University of Turin (2013)
• BSc Physiotherapy, University of Turin (2016)
• MRes Spinal Pain, University of Birmingham (2020)
• PhD Sports, Exercise and Rehabilitation, University of Birmingham (2024)

Valter is a physiotherapist and sports scientist with clinical experience in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. After a period of research at the Laboratory for Engineering of the Neuromuscular System in Turin, Valter joined the CPR Spine in January 2019 to pursue an MRes in Spinal Pain. He then completed a PhD in Sport, Exercise, and Rehabilitation Sciences in 2024. Valter is currently a Research Fellow at CPR Spine, and his research mainly focuses on neuromuscular adaptations to pain and projects that leverage data science to better understand pain phenotypes in clinical populations.

Michail Arvanitidis

Qualifications:

• BSc in Physiotherapy
• MSc in Advanced Manipulative Physiotherapy
• Ph.D. in Motor Control and Rehabilitation

Dr Michail Arvanitidis (PT, Ph.D., MSc, MMACP) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain (CPR Spine), School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. His current research examines cervical adaptations in NASA astronauts following spaceflight, aiming to enhance astronaut health for future missions.

Michail completed his PhD in Sport, Exercise, and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham in 2024, focusing on the neuromuscular control of muscle force in individuals with low back pain using high-density surface electromyography and isokinetic dynamometry. He also holds an MSc in Advanced Manipulative Physiotherapy (2018), and he is an accredited member of the Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (MACP).

Michail’s main interests involve studying motor control adaptations in pain-affected or vulnerable populations using cutting-edge technology and translating this knowledge into clinical practice.

Postgraduate students

Ali Alali

Qualifications:

• BSc Physiotherapy
• MSc Sport and Exercise Rehabilitation

Title of research project: To Promote Physical Activity Among People with Non-specific Low Back Pain by Implementing Snack-based Mobile Health Technologies.

Background: Ali is a Chartered Physiotherapist with 10 years of experience working in a sports rehabilitation centre. Ali started his PhD in April 2023 due to his interest in spinal pain, physical activity and mobile health technologies.

Evangelos Almpanidis

Qualifications:

• BSc Physiotherapy
• MSc Advanced Manipulative Physiotherapy, MMACP, MAACP

Title of Research Project: Association between measures of cervical spine function and psychological features in people with chronic neck pain.

Background: Evangelos Almpanidis is a specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist with a clinical interest in headaches, neck pain and temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and more than 10 years of experience, working as a clinician in the public and private sector.

With regards to his educational commitments, he has been teaching manual therapy courses internationally (UAE, Greece, UK) and acts as a clinical instructor and mentor for both the MACP and OMT-Greece.

In 2022, he commenced his PhD at University of Birmingham focusing on the interaction between physical and psychological characteristics in people with chronic neck pain, and headaches.

Giacomo Asquini

Qualifications:

• BSc Physiotherapy

Title of research project: Optimising Physiotherapy Outcomes for Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders

Background: Giacomo Asquini is the head of the Craniomandibular Physiotherapy Service at the Italian Stomatologic Institute (Dental Hospital in Milan, IT). He specialized in the management of patients with Temporomandibular Disorders and has treated over 3,000 patients in the past ten years.

Markus J Ernst

Qualifications:

• Certified Physiotherapist
• Orthopaedic manual physiotherapist OMT svomp
• MSc in physiotherapy research, Maastricht University, the Netherlands

Title of research project: Headache in office work, secondary analysis of a workplace exercise and health promotion intervention on headache outcomes in Swiss office workers.

Background: Markus is a German trained physiotherapist and a Swiss located and trained OMT with 30 years of work experience, and 15 years of research experience in the musculoskeletal field. He started his “late” PhD after receiving funding by the Swiss national foundation for a clinical project on neck pain and headache, which are also his primary fields of interest.

Anna Folli

Qualifications:

• BSc Physiotherapy

Title of research project: Pain in adolescents: An exploration of factors associated with pain development and persistence

Background: Anna studied physiotherapy at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland. Since 2018, she has been working as a physiotherapist at a private clinical practice in Switzerland and first as a research assistant and then as a research fellow at Rehabilitation Research laboratory (2rLab) of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland. In 2020, she started a MRes in Spinal Pain and in 2022 decided to expand the project and undertake a PhD in collaboration with the 2rLab.

Munaa Ibrahimi

Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Physiotherapy
• Master of Physiotherapy

Title of Research Project: Decoding Mind-Body Connection: Exploring the Psychological-Physiological Interplay in Low Back Pain

Background: Munaa worked as a consultant physiotherapist for 8 years, conducting clinical assessments and developing tailored treatment plans. She designs and reviews management strategies to ensure optimal patient outcomes and educates patients on the prevention and improvement of their conditions. She also has taught courses in Anatomy, Therapeutic Rehabilitation, and Physiotherapy in Orthopaedic Conditions, sharing her expertise and commitment to advancing the field.

Munaa Started her MRes in Spinal pain in September 2023 due to her interest in improving the long-term health care of individuals experiencing such conditions.

Shilpa Purushotham

Qualifications:

• MBBS, MSc (Human Anatomy), FHEA

Title of the research project: Microscopic changes in the spinal extensor muscles in people with low back pain

Background: Shilpa is a qualified medical doctor from India with nearly 8 years of clinical experience in Ireland. Following this, she pursued an academic career as an Anatomy Teaching Fellow at the University of Birmingham. She started her PhD (part-time) in October 2019 due to her interest in the clinical anatomy/pathology of the back and to contribute to clinical medicine in the conservative management of the back pain population.

Khyati Manoj Shah

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's of Physiotherapy (BPT)
• Masters of Physiotherapy in Musculoskeletal Sciences (MPT)
• Research Masters in Spinal Pain (MRes Spinal Pain)

Title of research project: Reliability and validity of smartphone sensors to assess neck motion in people with and without neck pain.

Background: Khyati has work experience as a lead musculoskeletal physiotherapist in an orthopaedic hospital in India and has keen interest in kinematics and kinesiology subjects. Due to her futuristic approach to integrate research into clinical practice, Khyati chose to pursue her MRes in Spinal Pain as it gave her the best opportunity to put research into practice.

Kanya Wongwitwichote

Qualifications:

• BSc (Physical Therapy), Prince of Songkla University
• MSc (Physical Therapy), Mahidol University

Title of Research Project: Motor, sensory, and psychological features during remission from low back pain and their role in pain recurrence

Background: Kanya is a physiotherapist and lecturer with five years of experience in the musculoskeletal field at Prince of Songkla University. In September 2023, she was awarded a scholarship to pursue her PhD at the University of Birmingham, driven by her clinical interest in spinal pain.

Geoffrey Yu

Qualifications

• BSc(Hon) in Physiotherapy, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• MSc in Sports Medicine and Health Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong
• MSc in Manipulative Physiotherapy (Distinction), Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• HCPC registered physiotherapist, MACP, MCSP

Title of project: Physical and psychological features during remission from neck pain and their role in pain recurrence

Background: Geoffrey is a registered physiotherapist with 6 years of clinical experience and he is keenly interested in neuromusculoskeletal physiotherapy. Geoffrey is going to start his PhD in March 2025 focusing on investigating the presentation and prevention of recurrent neck and back pain.

Rongda Zhang

Qualifications:

• LLB Public Security Management, China, People’s Public Security University of China
• MSc Sports Training, China, Beijing Sport University

Title of research project: Effects of 8 weeks of free-weight and machine-based resistance training on neuromuscular function

Background: Rongda has over 10 years of experience in health and fitness, as well as strength and conditioning coaching. He has worked as a strength and conditioning coach for several Chinese national teams. Due to his interest in neuromuscular physiology, Rongda started his PhD research in May 2024. His current research focuses on the differences in neuromuscular adaptations to various resistance training methods. Additionally, Rongda is a certified strength and conditioning coach through organizations like the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and EXOS.

Shouq Althobaiti

Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Physiotherapy
• Master of Physiotherapy

Title of research project: Clinical measures of trunk muscle strength and their measurement properties

Past PhD students

Ahmad AlDahas - Measurement properties of the measure of cervical joint position error in people with and without chronic neck pain

Erik Thoomes - The role of altered neurodynamics in patients with cervical radiculopathy

Michail Arvanitidis - Control of trunk muscle force in individuals with low back pain: new insights revealed by high-density surface electromyography

David Matthews - The influence of pain on motor learning

Valter Devecchi - Motor adaptations to movement-evoked low back pain

David Jimenez - Machine learning-based identification of key electromyography and kinematic features for chronic neck pain classification

Ignacio Contreras Hernandez - The morpho-mechanical and neuromuscular properties of the Triceps surae muscle-tendon unit in individuals with Achilles tendinopathy and the effects of exercise

Matthew Willett - Physical activity in patients with lower-limb osteoarthritis

Alessandro Schneebeli - Novel tools for the evaluation of Achilles tendon mechanical properties

Amal Alsubaie - Spinal kinematic variability in people with chronic low back pain

Samia Alamrani - Physical Functioning in Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis

Ahmed Alalawi - The presence and predictive capacity of altered cervical kinematics, neuromuscular, and psychological features in individuals with whiplash associated disorders at different stages of pain

Louise Fawcett - Does position affect lumbar spine MRI findings in elite gymnasts?

Pauline Kuithan, “Exercise induced analgesia in people with chronic low back pain”

Feras Alsultan - Movement variability in people with neck pain disorders

Andy Sanderson - The spatial distribution of lumbar muscle activity in people with chronic non-specific low back pain

Nicola Middlebrook - Clinical features and development of central sensitisation following musculoskeletal trauma

Past MRes Spinal Pain students

Giacomo Nardese - Investigating the effects of movement-evoked pain

Louise Wallace - Telerehabilitation for low back pain

Rui Mei - The efficacy of spinal manipulation and spinal mobilisation: estimation by ultrasound elastography

Kwun Nam Lam - Classification criteria for cervical radiculopathy

Jai Mistry - Neuropathic pain in low back related leg pain

Yang Ping - Changes in pain sensitivity following manual therapy techniques in chronic low back pain

Valter Devecchi - Neuromuscular adaptations in people with recurrent neck pain during a period of remission

Emma Rogers

Carlos Murillo - Variability of muscular activity distribution and muscular stiffness in people with low back pain

Past Research Fellows

Dr Feroz Jadhakhan

Dr Helio da Veiga Cabral

Dr Ali Khatibi

Dr David Evans

Dr Masood Mazaheri

Ms Deepa Abichandani

Dr Edith Elgueta Cancino

Dr Bernard Liew

Dr Alessandro de Nunzio

Dr Eduardo Martinez-Valdes