Assoc ProfessorCliona O'Sullivan

Dr. Cliona O'Sullivan is a physiotherapist and Associate Professor at University College Dublin. She graduated from Robert Gordon University, Scotland in 1997 and worked for 10 years in a variety of clinical areas in health systems in Ireland, Scotland and Burkina Faso, West Africa. In 2011, she led the design and development of the first Masters level graduate entry physiotherapy programme in Ireland and served as programme director for 10 years (2012-2022). 

She has substantial engagement with student learning and physiotherapy professional education and holds a Professional Diploma in University Teaching and Learning (UCD). She developed international interdisciplinary clinical placements in India, Uganda and Tanzania with UCD Volunteer Overseas (UCDVO) and a partnership with the Physiotherapy School at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda. She has embedded the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Global Health into the BSc and Masters Physiotherapy curricula and coordinates a global health module on the online MSc Sustainable Development in UCD School of Politics and International Relations. She holds a College award for teaching and learning, twice been the UCD nominee for Universitas 21 excellence in Health Science Teaching Award, and completed a UCD fellowship in Teaching and Academic Development (2018-2020) entitled: 'Teaching Across Cultures'. In 2017, she was SUDA education mentor with World Confederation for Physical Therapy (now World Physiotherapy) and Humanity and Inclusion to strengthen capacity in physiotherapy education in Niger, West Africa, (http://www.wcpt.org/suda).


Her research spans musculoskeletal health, global health and health systems research and she collaborates with clinical partners, international universities and non-governmental organisations. She was awarded funding as Principal Investigator from Science Foundation Ireland and Irish Aid under the SDG Challenge programme for a project called BACKTRACK: Reducing the burden of low back pain using technology enabled care pathways. This is a research collaboration with Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda and the UCD Insight Centre for Data Analytics. She is the research lead for the Swedish Research Council funded GRACE Project: Gender aspects in Rehabilitation of persons with Amputation in Challenging Environments. This is a research collaboration with International Committee of the Red Cross, Linköping University, Sweden, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research on Surgical care delivery in LMICs in India, Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia, Exceed Cambodia, and SINTEF Norway. Global Health Seed Funding includes: UCD Seed Funding (2020), Government of Ireland Academic Mobility Grant (2018); ESTHER Ireland Funding (2018, 2016); Networking Grant for Global Health Research, Irish Aid and Health Research Board (2007).


She has contributed to World Health Organization (WHO) meetings and groups relating to rehabilitation including: 3rd global rehabilitation meeting, (2023); 2nd global rehabilitation 2030 meeting (2019), Health Policy and Systems Research for Rehabilitation Meeting (2019), World Physiotherapy representative on the Rehabilitation Research Taskforce of the WHO (2019) and Stakeholder consultation meetings (2018), member of Technical Working Group for priority rehabilitation interventions, (2018, 2019) and member of the WHO Development Group for Priority Interventions for Osteoarthritis, (2020)

Dr O'Sullivan chairs the Universitas 21 Health Sciences Group SDG Initiative, a global network with members from 18 universities worldwide, which aims to promote knowledge and understanding of the SDGs within health science curricula. She is former Associate Dean for Global Engagement in the School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science and a former board member of UCDVO. She is a registered physiotherapist with CORU, the Health and Social Care Professions Council of Ireland and a member of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP) . She was vice chair of the Chartered Physiotherapists in International Health and Development, a special interest group of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists