Lucy Thomas

Lucy Thomas is a Senior Lecturer and researcher in the Discipline of Physiotherapy at the University of Queensland. She is also a registered practicing Titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist with postgraduate qualifications (Grad Dip App Sc (Manipulative Physiotherapy) from the University of Sydney and holds an honorary physiotherapy position at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Particular research interests include:

1. The safety of manual treatment of the neck and recognition of red flag conditions in patients presenting with headache and neck pain.
2. Evaluation of the role of the neck in disorders such as headache and dizziness.
3. Validating simple screening tools for the cervical region for use in clinical practice.
4. Optimising the management of cervical spine disorders.

Lucy completed her Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Newcastle in 2013, with thesis entitled ' Minimising risk factors for cervical spine manipulation'. She holds a Master of Medical Science from the University of Newcastle 'Validity of the Doppler velocimeter as a pre-manipulative screening tool for vertebral artery flow'. Her doctoral research focussed on investigating risk factors and clinical presentation of patients presenting with craniocervical arterial dissection, as well as examining blood flow changes in the cervical arteries with head movement.

Lucy has been an invited speaker at international and national conferences and invited to deliver webinars, lectures and workshops both nationally and internationally to present her research findings in the areas of safe practice, evaluation and management of the cervical spine. She has published her research in peer reviewed journals and contributed chapters to two textbooks on cervical spine management. She teaches extensively into the undergraduate and postgraduate physiotherapy programs and supervises several doctoral students.