Dr Sarah Audsley is a clinical academic working within the areas of physiotherapy, exercise rehabilitation and behavioural medicine.  Sarah completed an NIHR funded PhD fellowship at the University of Nottingham, which focused on encouraging older adults to keep physically active when falls prevention exercise programmes end.   Prior to joining Northumbria University,  Sarah worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Nottingham after being awarded Seedcorn funding from the NIHR.  She also worked as an Associate Lecturer on the Sport and Exercise Medicine master’s degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University.  Clinically, Sarah’s expertise is in musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapy and she has worked in various roles as a senior, extended scope and first contact physiotherapist within NHS, private clinic and amature to elite sport settings.   Alongside her current Assistant Professor role, Sarah continues to share her clinical expertise by working as a Consultant Physiotherapist for a Primary Care Network in Derby.   

Since joining Northumbria University, Sarah has been involved in delivering the pre-registration Physiotherapy programmes and leading the Musculoskeletal First Contact Practitioner in Primary Care course.   Sarah is committed to developing post-registration education and worked collaboratively with local and national NHS stakeholders to develop and implement the Musculoskeletal First Contact Practitioner in Primary Care course at Northumbria University.     Previously, Sarah also won a Teaching Enhancement Award that involved engaging physiotherapy students as teaching and research partners within the undergraduate physiotherapy programme.  

More recently Sarahs professional focus has been towards research after being awarded an ORUK research fellowship.  During her fellowship she is leading the “Keep Exercising & Stay Steady” study which involves working with key stakeholders to develop and assess the feasibility of an exercise maintenance intervention in older adults.  Alongside her fellowship,  Sarah is a second supervisor for a PhD student who is investigating osteoporosis in stroke and  is a co-applicant on the BabyFRED study (funded by the Private Physiotherapy Education Foundation) and the Making Every Contact Count Service Evaluation (funded by Northumbria Health Care Trust).  She also works as a researcher on Glasgow Caledonian Universities NIHR funded OPTIMA project and on internal research projects within the department.  Sarah is a member of the Management of Long-term Conditions,  Physical Activity and Exercise for Health Across Lifespan and Blue Zone Consortium research groups and is a Northumbria University representative for the World Health Organization Rehabilitation Alliance.

Sarah is committed to her professional development and considers her greatest professional achievement to have completed an NIHR funded doctoral fellowship, to time and target alongside working clinically. She has also completed a range of university accredited courses including a Certificate in Education;  BSc in Physiotherapy; MSc in Clinical Exercise Physiology; MRes in Musculoskeletal Health and Ageing; Post Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice: Post Grad Diploma in Injection Therapy and masters credits in Reasoning and Management for Advanced Musculoskeletal Practice.  Sarah is now keen to develop her leadership skills and is currently working towards the Chartered Management Institute accredited Rosalind Franklin programme via the NHS Leadership Academy. 

Dr Audsley's research interests focus on investigating the role of physical activity and behaviour change interventions to improve ageing health and physical function.  Dr Audsley has a particular interest in developing complex interventions to encourage people to continue to engage in postive health habits when structured physical activity and behaviour change interventions end.   Dr Audsley has specific research expertise in intervention development, mixed feasibility study design and coding interventions for content, delivery and theoretical underpinnings in systematic reviews.