Dr Cynthia Srikesavan

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy from the Government College of Physiotherapy (GCP), Tiruchirappalli, India, in January 1998. Following this, I worked in various teaching roles alongside my clinical responsibilities across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Gujarat. I have approximately nine years of teaching experience as an assistant professor and senior lecturer in India. I hold a master’s degree in Physiotherapy (Neurology), as well as MSc and MPhil degrees in Psychology.

In September 2010, I joined the multi-disciplinary PhD programme in Applied Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Canada, and obtained my doctorate in February 2015. My PhD research explored the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial on a computer game-based hand exercise programme for people with rheumatoid arthritis or hand osteoarthritis.

Since June 2015, I have been working at the University of Oxford, I am a mixed-methods researcher, and my primary focus is on the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based physiotherapy interventions at local and global levels. In two projects funded by the NIHR CLAHRC and ARC, Oxford, I led the development and service evaluations of two digital knowledge mobilisation resources to facilitate a NICE guideline-recommended hand exercise programme for people with rheumatoid arthritis. These projects addressed barriers and facilitators to implementing the programme in real-world settings across routine NHS practice and globally. I also guided health professionals from India, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, and Israel in translating the patient materials of the programme into 13 languages https://tinyurl.com/3ee2yywu.

My research experience extends to systematic reviewing methodologies and evidence synthesis, incorporating quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches. Currently, I am leading an update of a falls prevention review commissioned by the Cochrane Collaboration and a rapid review on reporting of ethnic representation in UK based studies in people with arthritis affecting the hands and wrists.

Additionally, I have a strong interest in the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of musculoskeletal patient-reported outcome measures in Tamil.

Voluntary contributions

Between August 2014 and 2016, I served as a volunteer translation resource manager in Cochrane Tamil translation projects, The Cochrane Collaboration. Our team translated around 450 Cochrane plain language summaries during the above period. We received  the University of Oxford’s OxTalent runner-up award in 2016. https://tinyurl.com/yxzdqyno.

I am a supporting collaborator of PEDro (https://pedro.org.au/). I led a team of physiotherapists and public representatives in translating the PEDro in Tamil https://pedro.org.au/tamil/. I was also directly involved in developing the PEDro tutorial videos in Tamil.

I have also contributed to the research section of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT) publishes its newsletter https://ifsht.org/newsletter/, that focused on research methods, outcome measures, implementation and basic statistics for clinicians.

Since 2020, I lead a monthly virtual journal club for a small group of physiotherapists in Tamil Nadu, India.  The sessions focus on understanding and interpreting randomized controlled trials and Cochrane systematic reviews and implementing clinical practice guidelines (Evidence-based Practice). We took part in PEDro’s ‘Tackle the Barriers campaign’ discussing how we overcame the barrier of English language in understanding evidence https://tinyurl.com/36f86nt5.

Broadening my volunteer roles in 2025, I have launched a monthly research learning hub for HCPC registered allied health professionals from global majority backgrounds working in the UK. This hub aims to facilitate evidence-based practice in rehabilitation by building research capacity and fostering a supportive network.

Research capacity building

Between 2016 and 2020, I led a team of physiotherapists at the Ganga Medical Centre & Hospitals Pvt. Limited, a 650-bedded multi-specialty hospital in Coimbatore, India in validation studies on the following musculoskeletal patient reported outcome measures in Tamil population: The Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, Oxford Knee Score (OKS) and Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire (MSK-HQ).

Since 2016, I am also advising a team of physiotherapists in Tamil Nadu, India in evaluating the implementation of various patient-reported outcome measures and a culturally tailored rehabilitation programme for people with knee osteoarthritis, developed in line with clinical practice guidelines. Our work has been presented at World physiotherapy, UK physiotherapy, and UK Implementation conferences.