Dr Sarah Wallwork is a Research Fellow in IIMPACT in Health at the University of South Australia in the field of paediatric pain. Specifically, her research aims to make a generational shift in the way young children understand pain, injury, and recovery, to reduce the development of unhelpful misconceptions about pain and to facilitate resilience and recovery in children after injury.
Sarah completed her physiotherapy training in 2010 in Adelaide, Australia, which included completing an Honours research project with Dr David Butler (noigroup) and Professor Lorimer Moseley investigating normative responses to a left/right neck rotation judgement task. In 2011 Sarah worked as a physiotherapist in an acute hospital setting as well as in private musculoskeletal practice. In 2017, Sarah completed her PhD under the supervision of Professor Lorimer Moseley (University of South Australia) and Professor Giandomenico Iannetti (University College London, UK), investigating the cognitive modulation of hte defensive hand-blink reflex. In 2017 Sarah took up a Post-doctoral Research position at the University of Canberra’s Research Institute for Sport and Exercise in Canberra, Australia, where she worked with Professor Gordon Waddington investigating somatosensory performance in elite-level athletes.
Sarah has published 27 peer-reviewed articles and has gained over $180,000 in grant funding. In 2021 she was named Field Leader in The Australian Research Magazine's top researchers in 250 fields of research, for her work in motor imagery in athletes and dancers. Sarah's work has been recognised through various awards and scholarships including: the Australian Bicentennial Scholarship (Kings College London; 2014), The Australian Federation of University Women South Australia – Barbara Crase Bursary (2014), Maurice de Rohan International Scholarship (2014), Ian Gould Experimental Science Grant (2014) and the NOI Travel Prize (2010). She has been invited speaker for a number of national and international conferences, and has been interviewed for parenting podcasts and publications.