Rate My Professor Gill Cowen

Dr Gill Cowen is a Senior Lecturer in the Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, at Curtin University. She holds qualifications including MBBS, MA (Oxon) in Physiological Sciences from the University of Oxford (1995-1998), Master's degree in Sports Medicine from the University of Queensland (2011), FRACGP, and MSportMed. As a General Practitioner and Sports Doctor with experience in private practice, Cowen has built a distinguished career bridging clinical practice and academia. Her appointments at Curtin University include roles as Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer (Teaching and Research), contributing to programs across the School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Cowen's research focuses on concussion management, mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), persisting post-concussion symptoms, and related multidisciplinary care, with emphasis on sports-related concussion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, fear avoidance behaviors, and health literacy. She serves as Chair and Founding Member of the Western Australian Concussion Network, advising the WA Football Club and contributing to Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia. Cowen co-supervises PhD students and has co-authored key publications such as 'Multidisciplinary care in concussion management' (2026), 'Predicting recovery outcomes following mild traumatic brain injury in an Australian community cohort: results from the Concussion Recovery Study (CREST)' (2025), 'Fear Avoidance after Concussion Tool (FACT): patient-reported outcome measure development and content validation' (2025), 'A summary of the first Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Clinical Practice Guideline for the management of mild traumatic brain injury/concussion and persisting post-concussion symptoms' (2026), 'Awareness and understanding of concussion among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities' (2024), and 'A retrospective analysis of concussion and post-concussional syndrome presentations to a Western Australian tertiary emergency department' (2024). Her 26 publications have received 113 citations and 1,760 reads on ResearchGate. She delivers public education via webinars, short courses, and lectures on concussion in general practice, older adults, and pediatrics, influencing clinical guidelines and policy in Australia.