This Research College Knowledge Exchange (CKE) session will provide feature presentations from two ACP Fellows who have recently been awarded the Specialist Research Physiotherapist credential. Presenters will share their area of research, followed by an opportunity for questions, discussion, and peer engagement. Physiotherapists with an interest in research, research translation and advancing clinical practice are encouraged to attend.
Associate Professor Nikki Milne - Spinal manipulation and mobilisation of infants, children and adolescents: the state of evidence and where to from here?
Serious harms may occur when spinal manipulation or mobilisation techniques are applied to infants, children, or adolescents. Yet these practices remain common by some professionals including physiotherapists in some regions of the world, despite a lack of research evidence to support such practice. Spinal manipulation with infants has drawn governmental attention over the past decade, resulting in controlling legislation. An international position statement was developed using an evidence-to-decision framework by a Paediatric Spinal Taskforce established by world physiotherapy specialty groups (IFOMPT and IOPTP) which is now guiding clinical practice globally. This presentation aims to highlight the state of the evidence regarding the use of spinal manipulation and mobilisation with paediatric populations and expose gaps for future research in this clinical field.
Professor Rana Hinman - Pathway to research specialisation in Osteoarthritis
This session will outline provide an overview of, and key milestones in, Rana's osteoarthritis research career.
Rana Hinman, FACP, is a research physiotherapist and National Health & Medical Research Council Investigator Fellow (Leadership Level 2) at the Centre for Health, Exercise & Sports Medicine at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on clinical trials of non-drug non-surgical treatment strategies for osteoarthritis, in particular exercise, rehabilitation and biomechanical interventions. Her research aims to develop and evaluate strategies to support positive behaviour change in people with chronic musculoskeletal conditions, particularly adherence to exercise. Rana's research has a focus on implementation science, and she has a strong interest in developing and implementing methods to increase access to care, including telerehabilitation and digital health strategies. Rana's research also focusses on upskilling and training the health workforce to deliver better osteoarthritis and chronic pain care. Rana has published over >400 peer-reviewed papers, been awarded >$50M in research grant funds and is an Editorial Board member for Journal of Physiotherapy and an Academic Editor for PLOS Medicine.
Associate Professor Nikki Milne, FACP, PhD, is the Assistant Dean of Research for the Health Sciences and Medicine Faculty at Bond University, where she has worked for the past 19 years, teaching paediatrics and supervising research in the Doctor of Physiotherapy program. Nikki is the Research lead and Director of the Bond University Research Collaborative for Women and Children's Health and Sport. Prior to starting work in the academic setting Nikki worked as a Paediatric physiotherapist for NSW Health which led to her research interests in safe and effective care of infants, children and adolescents. Nikki was an invited member of the Paediatric Spinal Manipulation Taskforce in 2020 (a joint taskforce between World Physiotherapy specialty groups; IFOMPT and IOPTP) where she was the paediatric lead for the development of an international position statement guiding the physiotherapy profession on the use of spinal manipulation and mobilisation for paediatric clients. Nikki continues her work in this field with the international research group SPARK-MT (Spinal Paediatric Alliance for Research & Knowledge in Manual Therapy).
19/8/2026
1.5 hours
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