Suzanne McDonough

Professor Suzanne McDonough is a Professor and Head of RCSI School of Physiotherapy, holds professorial appointments at Ulster University UK is an honorary Professor at the University of Otago, NZ, and a visiting Professor with the University of Southampton. Suzanne obtained her undergraduate degree in physiotherapy at University College Dublin (UCD) in 1989; was awarded her PhD in neurophysiology from Newcastle University, UK, in 1995; and a higher diploma in healthcare (acupuncture) in 2002 from UCD.

Professor McDonough has over a decade of experience as Professor of Health and Rehabilitation at Ulster University before her appointment at RCSI. During her time there, she played a lead role in developing research capacity amongst physiotherapists and other allied health professionals, both nationally and internationally. Suzanne has successfully supervised 30 PhD students to date.

Suzanne is an expert in the development and evaluation of rehabilitation interventions in clinical populations with movement challenges (e.g. due to pain, neurological injury, ageing etc.). She is interested in the use of technology to enhance rehabilitation adherence and promote general health and wellbeing. Examples of technology she has developed and tested in clinical trials are virtual reality in stroke; and pedometers/wearables as motivational tools to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour e.g. low back pain, respiratory disease, stroke, mental health and cancer. Suzanne has used behaviour change theory to design interventions and to understand intervention characteristics in systematic reviews. Given the breadth of clinical areas that Suzanne has worked in, she is interested in how we best manage people with multimorbid conditions. She has published widely in her area of expertise (over 120 papers; H-index=39), presented at international conferences; and has obtained funding from a variety of national and international sources.