Karen Ginn

Professor Karen Ginn is Professor of Musculoskeletal Anatomy in the Discipline of Anatomy and Histology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. She holds a PhD, MHPEd, GDManipTher, and GDPhty, and is a titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist. Throughout her career, she has taught functional and applied anatomy to health professionals and coordinated university units such as BIOS3065 Anatomical Analysis of Exercise and other human movement courses. She conducts professional development courses on the assessment and treatment of shoulder dysfunction and is involved in clinical research on shoulder muscle function.

Her research focuses on musculoskeletal anatomy, particularly shoulder pain and dysfunction, including electromyographic studies of shoulder muscle activation in healthy individuals and patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy or frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis), clinical trials on the efficacy of conservative and surgical treatments for shoulder conditions, investigations into shoulder stiffness and cortical changes associated with pain, and ergonomic interventions to prevent shoulder pain in at-risk groups like sonographers, surgeons, and dentists. She co-leads the Shoulder Research Group with colleagues including Mark Halaki and Daren Reed. Ginn has approximately 80 to 109 peer-reviewed publications, with 3,905 citations and 63,739 reads on ResearchGate. Key publications include "Does supraspinatus initiate shoulder abduction?" (Reed, Cathers, Halaki, Ginn, 2013), "The rotator cuff muscles are activated at low levels during shoulder adduction: an experimental study" (Reed, Halaki, Ginn, 2010), "Revision of the Shoulder Normalization Tests is required to include the latissimus dorsi muscle" (Cathers, Halaki, Ginn, 2011), "Analysis of phase detects altered timing of muscle activation in individuals with rotator cuff tendinopathy" (2022), "Co-design of a Treatment Algorithm for People With Large to Massive Rotator Cuff Tendon Tears: The CALMeR Cuff Pathway" (2025), "The role of the inferior glenohumeral capsule ratio in the diagnosis of frozen shoulder/adhesive capsulitis—An ultrasound study" (2024), and "The validity of surface electrodes to record latissimus dorsi activity during submaximal trunk movement and stability tasks" (2025). She emphasizes that rotator cuff tears frequently occur asymptomatically, especially over age 60, and imaging is unwarranted absent trauma or red flags. Ginn organizes focused symposia for the International Congress on Shoulder and Elbow Therapy (ICSET) 2026.

Professional Email: karen.ginn@sydney.edu.au