Dr Carolyn Berryman
Senior Research Fellow
School of Allied Health and Human Performance
College of Health
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
An expert clinical physiotherapist, my strong desire to uncover and clinically exploit novel mechanisms for optimizing recovery from persistent pain has led to a focus on understanding brain mechanisms, cognition and the lived experience.This was the basis for my PhD topic supervised by Prof G. Lorimer Moseley and Ass Prof Tasha Stanton, awarded in 2015. One comprehensive meta-analytic review from that period has had a large impact in the field, being cited over 400 times. Since my PhD have extended my knowledge and developed expertise in brain imaging, brain stimulation and cognition during my postdoctoral position at The University of Adelaide (NHMRC Peter Doherty Early Career Fellowship; 2017-2021). The combination of clinical and fundamental science expertise places me in a unique position to straddle both basic science and clinical realms. One stream of my research focuses on uncovering human neurophysiological mechanisms that contribute to chronic pain and seeks to find novel ways to use this information in the clinical setting for optimisation of outcomes.
The second stream of my research focuses on improving care for adolescents with chronic pain. This encompasses co-designing better models of care and service delivery, working with adolescents to develop resources for learning about pain, and working with schools and the Department for Education to develop resources to better manage chronic pain in schools. I keep a clinical footprint, working one day per week as senior physiotherapist in the Women's and Children's Hospital multidisciplinary chronic pain service.
I currently work as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of South Australia’s IIMPACT in Health where I am leading a $2.6 million 5 year MRFF grant to improve care for adolescents with chronic pain. I also lead Pain Investigation within the Brain Stimulation, Imaging and Cognition Group at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and maintain my clinical expertise and research as Senior Pain Physiotherapist at the Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital Paediatric Chronic Pain Service.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Senior Research Fellow | Adelaide University |
| 2021 - ongoing | Adjunct Researcher | The University of Adelaide |
| 2021 - ongoing | Senior Physiotherapist | Women's and Children's Hospital |
| 2020 - 2023 | Research Associate | SAHMRI |
| 2017 - 2021 | NHMRC Early Career Fellow | The University of Adelaide |
| 2017 - ongoing | Post Doctoral Research Fellow | University of South Australia |
| 2016 - 2019 | Professional Advisor (Physiotherapy Services) | Returnto Work SA |
| Language | Competency |
|---|---|
| Japanese | Can speak and understand spoken |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 - 2015 | University of South Australia | Australia | PhD |
| 1998 - 2005 | University of Sydney | Australia | Master of Science, Medicine (Pain Management) |
| 1990 - 1991 | University of South Australia | Australia | Master of Applied Science Hons IIa (Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy) |
| 1983 - 1986 | University of South Australia | Australia | Bachelor of Applied Science (Physiotherapy) |
| Date | Title | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Art and Science of Scientific Writing | Abelard | Australia |
| 2009 | NVivo training | Flinders University, Adelaide | Australia |
| 2005 | Health Research Methods and Biostatistics | University of South Australia, Adelaide | Australia |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Slater, H., Campbell, J. M., & Berryman, C. (2020). Physical therapies. In S. Schug, D. A. Scott, J. Mott, G. Palmer, R. Halliwell, & M. Alcock (Eds.), Acute Pain Management: Scientific Evidence 5th edition (5th ed.). |
| 2017 | Berryman, C., Catley, M., & Moseley, G. (2017). Pain management. In J. Corns (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Pain (pp. 388-399). US: Routledge. DOI |
| 2011 | Athanasos, P., Neild, R., de Crespigny, C., & Cusack, L. (2011). Pain management. In Care in mental health-substance use, 2011 (pp. 215-228). Radcliffe Publishing. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Ward, S. J., Coates, A. M., Carter, S., Baldock, K. L., Stanton, T. R., Yandell, C., . . . Hill, A. M. (2023). Chronic musculoskeletal pain, physical function, and dietary intake in Australian adults with overweight and obesity. In PROCEEDINGS OF THE NUTRITION SOCIETY Vol. 82 (pp. 1 page). CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Serocki, P., Coller, J. K., Stanhope, J., Berryman, C., & Gibson, R. (2025). Urban greenspace: Impact on recurrent abdominal pain in children and adolescents. Poster session presented at the meeting of World Physiotherapy Congress. Tokyo. |
| 2023 | Serocki, P., Stanhope, J., Coller, J., Berryman, C., & Gibson, R. (2023). Can a nature-based physiotherapy program improve outcomes for adolescents with chronic abdominal pain?. Poster session presented at the meeting of Florey Postgraduate Conference. Adelaide. |
| 2015 | Berryman, C., Wise, V., Stanton, T., McFarlane, A., & Moseley, G. (2015). To go or not to go: an ERP study of response inhibition in people with somatic hypervigilance. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australian Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting Proceedings. Brisbane, QLD. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Herman, A. M., Berryman, C., & Stanton, T. (2025). Heightened protective decision-making related to physical, but not cognitive, effort in individuals with fibromyalgia. DOI |
| 2025 | Herman, A. M., Berryman, C., & Stanton, T. (2025). Heightened protective decision-making related to physical, but not cognitive, effort in individuals with fibromyalgia. DOI |
2025-27 Medical Research Future Fund ($984,147.80, MRF) PainED-CP Co-creating an innovative pain education intervention for children with cerebral palsy. (CI)
2025-30 Medical Research Future Fund (MRF2040282)$2.6 million) INcorporating co-design and sysTEms thinking to GeneRate, implement and evaluATE an improved model of care for youth with chronic pain (INTEGRATE) (CIA).
2025 Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences UoA 2025 Early Grant Development Scheme ($19990) Discovering and evaluating pain education resources for children with cerebral palsy (CP PainEd) (Smith M, Berryman C, Harvey, A Ostojic K, Honan I, Smith N, and Henry G).
2024 Cops for Kids ($40,000) Feasibility study of virtual reality adjunct to physiotherapy interventions (Pope N, Berryman C, Stanton T, Stinson J).
2023 APS PhD fellowship ($120,000) (Moore E, Berryman C, Moseley GL).
2022 Cops for Kids ($30,000) Codesign of a community based adolescent chronic pain service (Berryman C, deMorgan S, Blythe F, Lord S).
Neurosurgical Research Foundation ($50,000) Role of concomitant TBI in neuropathic pain following SCI (Leonard A, Corrigan F, Wells A, Doig R, Berryman C, Skein K).
2021 Morton Cure Paralysis Fund (US$25,000) Reconnecting the cord: peripheral nerve stimulation to improve spinal cord connections following traumatic injury (Leonard A, Lauto A, Hutchinson M, Berryman C, Jones C, Tettamanzi G).
2020 Neurosurgical Research Foundation ($31,688) Reconnecting the cord: peripheral nerve stimulation to improve spinal cord connections following traumatic injury (Leonard A, Lauto A, Hutchinson M, Berryman C, Jones C, Tettamanzi G).
2019 Australia-Harvard Fellowship ($10,000) to bring A/Prof Rachael Coakley to Adelaide for development of a scalable intervention for adolescents with persistent pain and their parents.
2015 Australian Pain Society Annual Conference, Brisbane, March, Student Conference Travel Grant ($500).
2014 The First CiNet Conference, New Directions in Pain Neuroscience, Osaka, Dec, Travel Award, registration and accommodation paid.
Australian Pain Society Annual Conference, Hobart, April, Student Conference Travel Grant ($500).
2013 European Congress on Pain, Florence, October, Travel Award, accommodation, meals and half travel costs covered.
1998 University of Sydney Master of Pain Medicine/Pain Science program, MundiPharma Post-graduate Student Award ($6000).
1990 University of South Australia, Masters of Applied Science program, Public Health Postgraduate Scholarship, Flinders Medical Centre ($6000).
2021 Research Infrastructure Funding Award, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Adelaide ($102,000, CIB).
Research Infrastructure Funding Award, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Adelaide ($35,000, CID).
Research Infrastructure Funding Award, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Adelaide ($44,000, CIB).
2020 Research Infrastructure Funding Award, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Adelaide ($10,000, CIA).
2019 Identified as an Emerging Leader Robinson Research Institute and all costs covered for Science in Public Media and Communication Training Workshop, Niall Byrne, Sarah Brooker, Oct, Adelaide (1 day).
2018 Research Infrastructure Funding Award, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide ($6,330.00 CIA).
Research Travel Award (Round 1), Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Adelaide ($1000).
2017 Faculty of Health and Medical Science, Start-up Funding ($20,000).
2016 Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Division of Health Sciences, Body in Mind Research Group, University of South Australia, January to October, 0.8 FTE ($51,000).
2015 Research Associate, Division of Health Sciences, Body in Mind Research Group, University of South Australia, April to September, 0.8 FTE ($8,200).
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Principal Supervisor | Investigating differences in visual working memory and auditory oddball performances in people with chronic lower back pain and healthy controls | Master of Research | Master | Full Time | Miss Jorja Moseley |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | Co-design for care and service delivery of school support strategies for adolescents with chronic pain | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Alice Farmer |
| 2021 | Co-Supervisor | Advancing physiotherapy management of chronic pain by improving implementation of evidence-based practice. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Mr Cameron Dickson |
| 2021 | Co-Supervisor | Chronic abdominal pain in Australian adolescents and nature-based intervention | Master of Philosophy (Medical Science) | Master | Part Time | Mrs Trish Serocki |
| 2021 | Co-Supervisor | Chronic abdominal pain in Australian adolescents and nature-based intervention | - | Master | Part Time | Mrs Trish Serocki |
| 2021 | Co-Supervisor | Advancing physiotherapy management of chronic pain by improving implementation of evidence-based practice. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Mr Cameron Dickson |
| 2021 | Co-Supervisor | Advancing physiotherapy management of chronic pain by improving implementation of evidence-based practice. | - | Doctorate | Part Time | Mr Cameron Dickson |
| 2020 | Principal Supervisor | The impact and influence breathing awareness has on movement quality for those with chronic pain. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Ms Jo Bouckley |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 - 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Sciatic Nerve Stimulation via a Novel Graft-Antenna to Improve Outcomes Following Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Mr Ryan Dorrian |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Location | Program | Supervision Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Repeatability of synaptic plasticity induction | The University of Adelaide | - | Honours | - | Ellen Williams |
| 2019 - ongoing | Co-Supervisor | Breathing techniques: a sigh of relief for people with chronic pain | University of South Australia | IPHH | Doctorate | Full Time | Joanne Boukley |
| 2019 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | The accuracy, credibility and comprehensiveness of online information for complex regional pain syndrome | University of South Australia | BAppSc (Physiotherapy) | Honours | - | Emily Moore |
| 2019 - ongoing | Co-Supervisor | The neurophysiological properties of the heartbeat evoked potential in health and disease | University of South Australia | B Psychology | Master | - | Erica Wilkinson |
| 2019 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Interhemispheric inhibition in people who have recovered from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome | University of South Australia | B App Sc (Physiotherapy) | Honours | - | Ashraf Gerges |
| 2019 - 2019 | Principal Supervisor | Neuroinflammation and brain plasticity | The University of Adelaide | B Sc Neuroscience | Other | - | Chad Lennon |
| Date | Topic | Location | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 - ongoing | Pain science education (local pain educator) | PainRevolution | Alanna Cowley |
| 2019 - ongoing | Pain science education | PainRevolution | Jude French |
| 2018 - ongoing | Mentoring for PhD journey | Robinson Research Institute, The University of Adelaide | Kristy Kolc |
| 2018 - 2018 | Professional development and complex injury management | Retrun to Work SA | Amanda Buhne |
| 2018 - ongoing | evidence based best practice care for persistent pain and development of skills to become a local pain educator | PainRevolution | Amanda Simister |
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