Rate My Professor Parimala Kanagasabai

Dr. Parimala Kanagasabai is a Research Fellow in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Otago, Wellington, within the Division of Health Sciences. She earned her PhD from the University of Otago in 2016 with a thesis titled 'Leisure participation of children with movement impairments in New Zealand,' a Master of Physiotherapy in Paediatrics, and a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from Chennai, India. Her academic trajectory reflects a strong foundation in physiotherapy transitioning into interdisciplinary health research.

Kanagasabai's research specializations include child and infant health, children with disabilities, leisure participation, developmental intervention, preterm infant behaviours, mother-infant interactions, and maternal health. Her interests also cover paediatric rehabilitation, developmental disabilities, and physiotherapy, with recent focus on improving access to care for abnormal uterine bleeding and using storytelling interventions to enhance empathy in medical students. She has received funding from the Otago Medical School Medical Education Research Fund for a project on patient storytelling's role in empathy development. Key publications comprise 'Allied health provision of therapy in the neonatal units in New Zealand: A cross-sectional survey' (2026, Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health, co-authored with D. Atkins et al.); 'Belonging in urban park and playgrounds: Wellbeing perspectives of disabled children and their families' (2025, Wellbeing, Space & Society, with M.A. Perry et al.); 'Women’s experience of participating in a storytelling intervention about abnormal uterine bleeding for medical student education' (2024, Focus on Health Professional Education, with S. Filoche et al.); 'A scoping review of coaching in occupational therapy: Mapping methods, populations and outcomes' (2024, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, with F. Graham et al.); 'Interventions to improve access to care for abnormal uterine bleeding: A systematic scoping review' (2023, International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics); 'Can storytelling of women's lived experience enhance empathy in medical students? A pilot intervention study' (2024, Medical Teacher); and 'Environmental factors influencing leisure participation of children with disabilities living in rural New Zealand' (2019, New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy). Her work impacts neonatal therapy, inclusive urban design, women's health equity, and health professional education. She delivered a plenary presentation, 'Know your period: A co-designed consumer resource about abnormal uterine bleeding,' at the RANZCOG Aotearoa Annual Scientific Meeting (2025) and contributes to the Women's Health Advisory Group.