PhD: Toolkit for turning impairment in Parkinsons

PhD at Northumbria on turning impairment in Parkinsons creates outcome measure and clinical toolkit to improve mobility and reduce falls

Mobility impairments are common in people with Parkinson’s disease, including problems with turning. Turning poses a large falls risk for People with Parkinson’s (PwP) as most daily tasks require turning when navigating small spaces and obstacles. A fall during turning is eight times more likely to result in a hip fracture due to the nature of a sideways landing. Falls, and particularly those resulting in a major injury such as hip fracture result in reduced quality of life, reduced independence and an increase in hospital admissions and overall healthcare costs. However, there is currently a poor evidence base for treating turning in PwP, there are limited guidelines to support clinicians in their practice and a lack of outcome measures to assess and measure turning. Improving physiotherapy care around turning will lead to improved mobility and reduced falls in PwP.

Project objectives:

1) Design, validate and disseminate an outcome measure for turning in PwP

2) Co-design, create and distribute a toolkit for healthcare professionals to improve treatment of turns in PwP

Project Phases:

• Phase 1: Conduct a systematic review on current outcome measures for turning in PwP and identify current gaps in the evidence.
• Phase 2: conduct a survey and interviews with healthcare professionals to determine important elements for a future toolkit to improve turning treatment measures.
• Phase 3: co-design and disseminate a toolkit for improving physiotherapy for turning in PwP.

This studentship provides an excellent opportunity to work in an outstanding research team as part of a larger funded project from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). You will be a member of the Physiotherapy Innovation Laboratory, a lab of multidisciplinary team members with an excellent track record in Parkinson’s rehabilitation research. You will develop applied research skills in evidence synthesis and co-design, expand both your clinical and academic networks, work to deliver high quality research publications and presentations, attend national and international conferences and work alongside clinical partners within the region (including Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust and Sunderland and South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust).

Supervision Team

The studentship benefits from being supervised by subject-specific experts in Parkinson’s Disease, digital health and falls prevention. Dr Morris is an Associate Professor and NIHR Advanced fellow who is a Physiotherapist with a high-quality research record in gait, balance, and cognition in neurological disorders, namely Parkinson’s disease. Dr Das is a post-doctoral research fellow and experienced Physiotherapist with expertise in neurological rehabilitation and Parkinson’s disease. Dr Barry is an associate professor in clinical biomechanics and has expertise in Parkinson’s Disease, falls prevention and digital health. Dr Audsley is an assistant professor in physiotherapy and has a research fellowship with ORUK in falls prevention. The supervisory team have extensive local, national and international collaborations in their fields.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Academic excellence i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities with preference for 1st class honours); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
• Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
• Applicants cannot apply if they are already a PhD holder or if currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere.
• Must be able to commit to campus-based full-time or part-time study. To be classed as a Home student, candidates must:
• Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
• have settled status, or
• have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
• have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student.

Applicants will need to be in the UK and fully enrolled before stipend payments can commence and be aware of the following additional costs that may be incurred, as these are not covered by the studentship.

• Immigration Health Surcharge https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application
• If you need to apply for a Student Visa to enter the UK, please refer to https://www.gov.uk/student-visa. It is important that you read this information carefully as it is your responsibility to ensure that you hold the correct funds required for your visa application, otherwise your visa may be refused.
• Costs associated with English Language requirements which may be required for students not having completed a first degree in English, will not be paid by the University.
• International applicants (including EU) need to have their own valid immigration permissions to live and study in the UK if they wish to study on a part-time basis as Northumbria University does not sponsor part-time Student Visas.

For further details on how to apply see https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/

In your application, please include a research proposal of approximately 1,000 words and the advert reference (e.g. RDF26/…).

Deadline for applications: 23 January 2026

Start date of course: 1st October 2026

Northumbria University is committed to creating an inclusive culture where we take pride in, and value, the diversity of our postgraduate research students. We encourage and welcome applications from all members of the community. The University holds a bronze Athena Swan award in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender equality, we are a Disability Confident Leader, a member of the Race Equality Charter and are participating in the Stonewall Diversity Champion Programme. We also hold the HR Excellence in Research award for implementing the concordat supporting the career Development of Researchers and are members of the Euraxess initiative to deliver information and support to professional researchers.

This project is supervised by Dr Rosie Morris, Dr Julia Das, Dr Gill Barry and Dr Sarah Audsley. For informal queries, please contact Dr Rosie Morris on rosie.e.morris@northumbria.ac.uk. For all other enquiries relating to eligibility or application process please use the email form below to contact Admissions.