Rate My Professor Ally Calder

Dr Ally Calder is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean (Postgraduate Studies) in the School of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Professional Programmes, Health Sciences Division, University of Otago. She holds a BHSc (Physiotherapy) from Auckland University of Technology, a PGCertCT (Clinical Teaching), and a PhD from the University of Otago completed in 2019, which examined access to physical activity for men following stroke. Her career at the University of Otago has included progression from lecturer to senior lecturer roles, alongside clinical education and research contributions in physiotherapy.

Calder specializes in participatory action research, co-design, qualitative, mixed methods, and systematic review methodologies, prioritizing genuine collaborative, person- and whānau-centred partnerships with communities. Her research streams focus on physical activity participation for men living with long-term conditions and disability, inclusive access to the built environment for people with disability, and developing innovative teaching approaches for pre-registration health professional students. She supervises research at undergraduate, master's, and PhD levels and teaches courses such as PHTY254, PHTY256, PHTY354 on neurorehabilitation, disability, and physical activity; PHTY456, PHTY468 on clinical education; and postgraduate papers like PHTY535 and PHTY561. Key publications include Waller et al. (2025) 'Morphological and biomechanical comparison of the paretic to the non-paretic knee in people with stroke' in New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy; Moeinzadeh et al. (2025) 'Views of people with MS regarding VR-exergaming to improve physical function and cognition' in Disability & Rehabilitation; Sole et al. (2024) 'Co-constructing a website for people with shoulder pain and physiotherapists' in Musculoskeletal Science & Practice; Robinson et al. (2024) 'Collaborative goal setting for disabled children within education: A scoping review' in New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy; and Davidson et al. (2024) 'It's a total pain in the mouth! Physiotherapists' perspectives of temporomandibular disorders'. She is Co-Chair of the Centre for Men’s Health, University of Otago; advisory board member, Canterbury Health and Development Study; Trustee, Canterbury Multicentre Trust; and member, Physiotherapy New Zealand. She reviews for Disability and Health Journal, Disability and Rehabilitation, Physical Therapy Reviews, New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy, and Health Promotion Journal of Australia.