Dr Toomey is a Research Fellow at the School of Allied Health, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences. Dr Toomey competed her Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2017 from the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary in Canada and also holds an adjunct position there. Here, she was research lead on the Alberta Youth Prevention of Early Osteoarthritis (PrE-OA) study, identifying the health consequences of knee joint injuries in youth sport. Her research focused on measurement of physical activity and body composition outcomes in youth sport injury and pediatric disability populations including knee injury, concussion, cerebral palsy and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

She is currently a recipient of a Health Research Board Emerging Investigator Award which is investigating the IMPlementation of Clinical guidelines of osteoArthritis Together (IMPACT). This will take a participatory health research approach to forming implementation strategies that will ensure exercise and education are first line treatment options for patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis in the Irish healthcare system, using the Good Living with osteoArthritis Denmark (GLA:D) programme.

Publications

Toomey CM, Whittaker JL, Richmond SA, Owoeye OB, Patton DA, Emery CA. Adiposity as a Risk Factor for Sport Injury in Youth: A Systematic Review. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 2021 March 24, 2021 - Volume Publish Ahead of Print - https://doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0000000000000927

Toomey, C. M., Whittaker, J. L., Palacios-Derflingher, L., & Emery, C. A. (2021). Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Responder Criteria and Minimal Detectable Change 3–12 Years Following a Youth Sport-Related Knee Injury. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(3), 522. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10030522

Emery CA, van den Berg C, Richmond SA, Palacios-Derflingher L, McKay CD, Doyle-Baker PK, McKinlay M, Toomey CM, Nettel-Aguirre A, Verhagen E, Belton K, Macpherson A, Hagel BE. Implementing a junior high school-based programme to reduce sports injuries through neuromuscular training (iSPRINT): a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT). British Journal of Sport Medicine 2020; 54(15):913-919. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-101117

Emery CA, Whittaker JL, Lohmander S, Roos E, Bennell K, Toomey C, Ronsky J, Kuntze G, Lloyd D, Andriacchi T, Englund M, Kraus V, Losina E, Bierma-Zeinstra S, Runar J, Peat G, Reimer R, Luyten F, Snyder-Mackler L, Riseberg MA, Mobisheri A, Guermazi A, Hunter D, Arden NK. Establishing Outcome Measures in Early Knee Osteoarthritis. Nature Reviews Rheumatology. 2019. 15(7): 438-448. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-019-0237-3

Toomey CM, Whittaker JL, Nettel-Aguirre A, Reimer RA, Woodhouse LJ, Ghali BM, Doyle-Baker PK, Emery CA. (2017) Higher fat mass is associated with a history of knee injury in youth sport. Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy 47 (2): 80-87 https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2017.7101