Following qualification as a physiotherapist at the Cambridge School of Physiotherapy and holding a variety of clinical posts Professor Pomeroy obtained a PhD from the School of Medicine, University of Southampton.  Between 1996 and 2002 she was Senior Lecturer in Stroke Therapy Research at the University of Manchester and was also Director of The Stroke Association’s Therapy Research Unit.  In 2002 she was appointed to the Chair in Rehabilitation for Older People at St George’s University of London where she led the neurorehabilitation research programme.  Since 2007 Professor Pomeroy has held the Chair in Neurorehabilitation at UEA.

Professional Qualifications and professional memberships

PhD
FCSP
BA
GradDipPhys
Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology
Society for Research in Rehabilitation

Stroke Society of Australasia

Research interests

• Personalised neurorehabilitation
• Stroke recovery and rehabilitation
• Movement control
• Neural correlates of response to specific therapies

My stroke rehabilitation programme is focussed on enhancing recovery of movement control and functional activity through:

• identifying underlying mechanisms of impairment, disability, spontaneous and therapy-enhanced recovery;
• using resultant knowledge to inform the content of rehabilition interventions;
• evaluating interventions in clinical trials.

The emphasis is on Phase I and Phase II studies to enable Phase III trials of defined rehabilitation interventions for well characterised groups of stroke survivors. The programme is enhanced by undertaking biomechanical and neurophysiological studies and also through collaborations with neuroscientists.

Current and recently completed projects

• The effects of standardised physical therapy and functional strength training on upper limb function and neuromuscular weakness after stroke: a pilot study
• The effects of functional strength training on weakness and function of the lower limb after stroke.
• Mobilisation and tactile stimulation to enhance upper limb recovery after stroke: Phase I investigation of acceptable dose, efficacy and underlying mechanisms
• The effects of different intensity of exercise-based physiotherapy on movement control and functional activity after stroke: a systematic review
• Functional strength training to improve walking and upper limb function in people at least 1 year after stroke.  A Phase II trial
• Modified cycling early after stroke
• SWIFT Cast
• FAST INdICATE
• FESTIVALS

  Selected publications

1. Cowles T, Clark A, Mares K, Peryer G, Stuck R, Pomeroy VM.  Observation-to-Imitate plus Practice could add little to physical therapy benefits within 31 days of stroke.   Translational randomized controlled trial.  Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 2013;27:173-182.

2. Kerr A, Pomeroy VM, Rowe P, Dall P, Rafferty D.  Measuring fluency during the sit to walk movement.  Gait & Posture 2013;37:598-602.

3. Hancock NJ, Shepstone L, Winterbotham W, Pomeroy VM.  Effects of lower limb reciprocal pedaling exercise on motor function after stroke: a systematic review of randomized and nonrandomized studies.  International Journal of Stroke 2012;7:47-60.

4. Hunter SM, Hammett L, Ball S, Smith N, Anderson C, Clark A, Tallis RC, Rudd A, Pomeroy VM.  Appropriate dose of Mobilisation and Tactile Stimulation to enhance upper limb recovery early after stroke: a phase I trial.  Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 2011;25(4):314-322.

5. Cooke EV, Mares K, Clark A, Tallis RC, Pomeroy VM.  The effects of increased dose of exercise-based therapies to enhance motor recovery after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.  BMC Medicine 2010;8:60.  http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/8/60

6. Cooke EV, Tallis RC, Clark A, Pomeroy VM.  Efficacy of functional strength training on restoration of lower-limb motor function early after stroke: Phase I randomized controlled trial.  Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 2010;24(1):88-96.

7. Sharma N, Simmons L, Jones S, Day D, Carpenter A, Pomeroy VM, Warburton E, Baron J-C.  Motor Imagery after stroke: a fMRI study.  Stroke 2009;40:1315-1324.

8. Hiscock A, Miller S, Rothwell J, Tallis RC, Pomeroy VM.  Informing dose-finding studies of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to enhance motor function: a qualitative systematic review.  Neurorehabilitation & Neural Repair 2008;22(3):228-249.

9. Simmons L. Sharma N, Baron J-C, Pomeroy VM.  Feasibility of Motor Imagery after subcortical stroke.  Investigation of proportion of people who might benefit, daily dose and potential effects.  Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 2008;22(5):458-467.

10. Pomeroy VM, Cloud G, Tallis RC, Donaldson C, Nayak V, Miller S.  Transcranial magnetic stimulation and muscle contraction to enhance stroke recovery: a randomised proof-of-principle and feasibility investigation.  Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 2007;21(6):509-517.

 Website

https://www.uea.ac.uk/health-sciences/research/research-groups/rehabilitation/acquired-brain-injury-rehabilitation-alliance