Rate My Professor Michele Sterling

Professor Michele Sterling is a Professor in the Recover Injury Research Centre at the University of Queensland's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. She holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPhty), Master of Physiotherapy (MPhty), Graduate Diploma in Manipulative Physiotherapy, a Master's by coursework, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Physiotherapy from the University of Queensland (2003), with her doctoral research on motor, sensory, and psychological impairments following whiplash injury. A Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists, she is a musculoskeletal physiotherapist internationally recognized for her work on whiplash-associated disorders. Sterling serves as Program Leader for Improving health outcomes after musculoskeletal injury, Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Better Health Outcomes for Compensable Injury, and was previously Director of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Recovery Following Road Traffic Injuries (2014-2019). She is an NHMRC Leadership Fellow (Level 2, 2023-2027) focusing on road traffic injury, Secretary of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Executive Council (2024), Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the World Pain Congress (2022-2024), and former IASP Council member (2016-2022).

Her research investigates physiological and psychological factors underlying chronic pain development after musculoskeletal injury, predictive algorithms for outcomes, and effective interventions including integrated psychological and physical therapies. Sterling has secured over $50 million in funding from NHMRC, MRFF, ARC, and industry, including seven NHMRC project grants and two Centres of Research Excellence. She has authored over 325 publications, including highly cited works such as 'Sensory hypersensitivity occurs soon after whiplash injury and is associated with poor recovery' (Pain, 2003), 'Chronic nociplastic pain affecting the musculoskeletal system: clinical criteria and grading system' (Pain, 2021), 'Central sensitisation in chronic pain conditions: latest discoveries and their potential for precision medicine' (The Lancet Rheumatology, 2021), 'Dizziness and unsteadiness following whiplash injury: characteristic features and relationship with cervical joint position error' (Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 2003), and books 'Whiplash, headache, and neck pain: research-based directions for physical therapies' (2008) and 'Whiplash injury recovery: a self-help guide' (2011). She is Section Editor for PAIN and co-editor of the 4th and 5th editions of Grieve's Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy. Awards include the University of Queensland Foundation Research Excellence Award (2005) and Research Australia Research Translation Award (2023).