Rate My Professor Kieran O'Sullivan

Professor Kieran O'Sullivan is Professor of Physiotherapy and serves as the physiotherapy lead in the School of Allied Health, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, at the University of Limerick, where he is also course director for the MSc in Physiotherapy. He earned his BSc in Physiotherapy from University College Dublin in 1999, an MManipTher from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, in 2004, a PhD on low back pain from the University of Limerick in 2012, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in 2012. O'Sullivan joined the University of Limerick as a lecturer in September 2005 and has held concurrent professorial positions in the Ageing Research Centre, Health Research Institute, and Sports and Human Performance Research Centre. He is a member of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists since 1999, the Chartered Physiotherapists in Manual Therapy since 1999, the New Zealand Society of Physiotherapists since 1999, and the Irish Society of Orthopaedic Medicine since 2001.

O'Sullivan's research specializations focus on musculoskeletal pain and injury, particularly low back pain, and bio-psycho-social models of care for persistent pain. He ranks in the top 0.1% of researchers worldwide on low back pain, has secured over €5.5 million in competitive national and international research funding from bodies including the Health Research Board, Irish Research Council, European Commission, and National Health and Medical Research Council Australia, published over 180 peer-reviewed journal articles—including two randomised clinical trials on low back pain—and delivered over 200 conference presentations. He has supervised eight PhD students to completion. Key publications include 'Individualised cognitive functional therapy compared with a global exercise programme for people with chronic low back pain' (BMJ Open, 2015), 'The long-term clinical course of non-surgically treated lumbar spinal stenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis' (European Spine Journal, 2026), and 'It's an Uncomfortable Subject - a Qualitative Exploration of the Challenges and Potential Solutions to Depression Screening in Low Back Pain' (Physical Therapy, 2026). His contributions have advanced personalised care approaches for back pain. O'Sullivan has received the Lifetime Fellowship of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (2024), University of Limerick Research Excellence and Impact Award (2021), National Teaching Hero award (2021), Public Engagement and Outreach in Research Award (2022), and Outstanding Early Career Researcher award from the Faculty of Education and Health Sciences (2015).