David Matthews
Senior Lecturer/Practice education lead for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy
Department of Allied Health
email: d.matthews@worc.ac.uk
David is a senior lecturer and practice education lead for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy. He trained as a physiotherapist at the University of London, graduating in 2001. Over the next 14 years he worked as a physiotherapist in the NHS in a number of health trusts across the UK specialising in musculoskeletal physiotherapy. In 2015 David moved into higher education taking up the role of lecturer at the School of Healthcare Sciences at Cardiff University. During his time at Cardiff University David played a key role in supporting placement learning and promoting inclusivity alongside delivering high quality undergraduate and post graduate education. In 2020, David was successful in applying for a fully funded PhD scholarship at the University of Birmingham and completed the scholarship alongside his teaching workload.
Qualifications:
2023 ongoing PhD in neuroscience and motor learning, University of Birmingham.
2019 Postgraduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (PgCUTL), Cardiff University.
2011 MSc advanced (MACP accredited) Physiotherapy, Kings College London.
2001 BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy, University of London
Teaching Interests
David strongly believes in high quality education for all. He has a wealth of experience in designing and delivering teaching and learning opportunities with inclusivity and student-centred learning at its heart. David has led programme re-accreditation in higher education, provided module leadership for a range of modules across all levels and held a multitude of roles supporting students in practice-based settings. David has a particular interest in exploring different placement experiences and models to increase the diversity of student experience and prepare students for all aspects of life.
Research Interests
David’s research interests include exploring the different processes that underlie explicit and implicit memory and understanding further the interaction between competing demands, such as emotional experiences, i.e. pain and stress, or other learning and memory tasks, and how the brain prioritises such demands. His PhD thesis was titled ‘Neural mechanisms underlying pain interference with motor learning.’
Membership of Professional Bodies
2019 - Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
2010 - Member of the Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapist
2001 - Member of the Health and Care Professions Council
2001 - Member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
Recent Publications
Research publications
Matthews D, Cancino EE, Falla D, & Khatibi A (2022) Exploring pain interference with motor skill learning in humans: A systematic review. PLoS ONE 17(9)
Matthews D, Cancino EE, Falla D, & Khatibi A. (2021) Exploring pain interference with motor skill learning in humans: a protocol for a systematic review. BMJ Open.11.
Matthews D, Murtagh P, Risso A, Jones, G, & Alexander C. M. (2013) Does interhemispheric communication relate to the bilateral function of muscles? A study of scapulothoracic muscles using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 23, pp 1370-1374.
Conference/Presentations
‘The impact of movement-induced phasic experimental pain on task performance and attention during a novel visuomotor sequence learning task in a healthy population’, European Pain Federation International Conference. Abstract accepted, September 2023.
‘Exploring pain interference with motor skill learning in humans’ at the school of sports, rehabilitation and exercise sciences, University of Birmingham. 27th January 2023.
‘Exploring pain interference with motor skill learning in humans: A systematic review’ at the school of sports, rehabilitation and exercise sciences, University of Birmingham. 15th December 2021.