Dr Lori Quinn
My research has focused on developing evidence and guidelines for targeted physical interventions in neurodegenerative diseases, and in particular Huntington’s disease (HD). Our group have adopted the Medical Research Council (MRC) Framework for design and evaluation of complex interventions to provide a structure that should ultimately lead to full scale, robust controlled clinical trials. Over the course of the last 5 years, we have validated outcome measures, consulted service users to develop appropriate interventions, and conducted case studies and two larger feasibility studies (MOVE TO EXERCISE and COMMET-HD). We are currently completing another feasibility study, TRAIN-HD, which is a task-specific home-based intervention for people with mid-stage HD. We are beginning a larger scale study of MOVE TO EXERCISE, a DVD-based home programme, in January 2013.
As co-lead facilitator of the European Huntington's Disease Network (EHDN) Physiotherapy Working Group, I work to facilitate communication between physiotherapists and healthcare professionals from across European countries. One of our major projects has been the development and on-going revision of a Physiotherapy Guidance Document for people with HD. This document incorporates basic science and clinical research to date, as well as expert consensus, for physiotherapy interventions targeted at all stages of HD. This work has required large-scale collaboration from physiotherapists working across Europe in the field of HD, and has resulted in the establishment of an international group of physiotherapy academics and clinicians working together to further develop existing evidence in support of physiotherapy for people with HD.