Man being presented with an award by a woman
UL Professor of Physiotherapy Kieran O'Sullivan with Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists President Ms Catherine McLaughlin
Friday, 10 May 2024

University of Limerick’s Professor Kieran O’Sullivan has been awarded a Lifetime Fellowship of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists, it has been announced.

Professor O’Sullivan, physiotherapy lead at UL’s School of Allied Health and course director for the MSc in Physiotherapy, was recognised for his outstanding contributions to research, teaching, and professional leadership.

Renowned for his expertise in musculoskeletal pain and injury, particularly low back pain (LBP), Professor O’Sullivan graduated as a physiotherapist from University College Dublin in 1999. In 2004 he completed an MSc in Manipulative Therapy at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. He returned to University of Limerick in 2005 where he completed his PhD on low back pain in 2012.

He is ranked among the top 25 (top 0.1%) researchers on LBP worldwide, and has obtained competitive national and international research funding of over €5.5 million. He has published over 180 journal articles, including two randomised clinical trials on LBP, and given over 200 conference presentations. He has received awards for his research excellence, impact and outreach.

A member of UL’s Health Research Institute, Professor O’Sullivan’s research group provides advice and information for patients and clinical researchers on managing musculoskeletal pain. He has supervised eight PhD students to completion.

Speaking about the award, Professor Kieran O’Sullivan said: “It is a great honour to be recognised by my professional peers, and of course this reflects not just my own work, but that of my colleagues, collaborators and students.”

Dr Aileen Wright, Head of UL’s School of Allied Health at the Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, added: “This is a well-deserved mark of recognition for Kieran, and this prestigious award reflects his contributions to Physiotherapy, nationally and internationally. In addition to his awards for research excellence, impact and outreach, he has received multiple teaching awards. As such, the award also reflects the excellent, research-led teaching in our allied health programmes at UL, with our physiotherapy programmes under Kieran’s leadership as Head of Discipline.”