Rate My Professor Jon Marsden

Professor Jonathan Marsden holds the Professorship and Chair in Rehabilitation in the School of Health Professions, Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth. A chartered physiotherapist registered with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and Health and Care Professions Council, he possesses BSc, MSc, and PhD qualifications. His research specializations encompass neurological rehabilitation, with a focus on sensorimotor control, gait and balance disorders, spasticity modeling, and management in conditions including multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, hereditary spastic paraparesis, cerebral palsy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and cerebellar ataxia. He leads the development of research capacity in rehabilitation and directs the NOMAD motor control laboratory at the Brain Research & Imaging Centre. Marsden has supervised numerous postgraduate research degrees, including PhDs on accidental falls in multiple sclerosis (H. Gunn, 2015), short-term stretching effects on ankle stiffness in multiple sclerosis (J. Ofori, 2012), hand function recovery after stroke (A. Wallace, 2011), sensory mechanisms of balance in cerebellar disease (L. Bunn, 2010), and compensatory walking strategies in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (G. Ramdharry, 2008). He currently supervises six postgraduate students across PhD and MPhil programs.

Marsden contributes significantly to teaching, leading the 'Cognition, perception and behaviour' module on the MSc in Neurological Rehabilitation and delivering content on sensorimotor control in neurological practice, pathomechanics and rehabilitation of gait and balance, as well as neurological physiotherapy at the undergraduate level. His professional roles include NIHR panel membership for Allied Health Professions clinical and senior clinical lectureships since 2012, membership of the Stroke Research Network management committee (2010-2013), Chair of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Scientific Panel (2008-2010), and Trustee of the CSP Charitable Trust (2008-2010), alongside honorary membership of the Familial Spastic Paraparesis Society. Key publications include 'Specialist physiotherapy for functional motor disorder in England and Scotland: the Physio4FMD pilot randomised controlled trial' (The Lancet Neurology, 2024), 'Modeling Spasticity: a systematic review' (Progress in Biomedical Engineering, 2026), 'Cerebellar ataxia: pathophysiology and rehabilitation' (Clinical Rehabilitation, 2011), and 'Muscle paresis and passive stiffness: Key determinants in limiting function in Hereditary and Sporadic Spastic Paraparesis' (Brain, 2012). He leads projects such as the NIHR-funded TULAY initiative for community physical rehabilitation in the Philippines (2022-2026) and contributed to a REF impact case study on pelvic girdle dysfunction management via innovative orthosis.