Executive Board
Our inaugural executive board are shaping our next stage of growth. They represent our membership, our culture, and our purpose.
The Long COVID Physio Executive Board was formed July 2021.
Chair
Darren Brown MCSP, BSc, MSc, MRes
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Chair
Darren Brown is a cis-gendered (pronouns he/him), gay, white man, of mixed English and Irish heritage, living in London UK. Darren is a clinical academic Physiotherapist specialising in HIV, disability and rehabilitation. Darren contracted COVID-19 in March 2020, with re-infection April 2022, and has experience of living with Long COVID and episodic disability. Darren is co-founder and inaugural Chair of Long COVID Physio.
Vice Chair
Bex John MCSP, BSc, MSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Vice Chair
Bex is a band 6 respiratory trained Physiotherapist from Birmingham, currently working within the NHS in medical wards specialising in renal, endocrine & oncology. Bex has a special interest in respiratory physiotherapy & worked in intensive care (ICU) after previously contracting COVID in March 2020. Bex is the inaugural Vice Chair.
Secretaries
Kay Atkin MCSP
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Secretary
Kay Atkin is a Musculoskeletal (MSK) Physiotherapist and Clinical Operations Lead, who is living with Long COVID.
Suzanne York
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Secretary
Suzanne is a Therapist Assistant working within a Stroke Rehabilitation unit in Hampshire. Her previous experience involves working as a Therapy Technician within an acute hospital trust, as well as working in the professional sports industry.
Peer Support Directors
Grace Fergusson MCSP, BSc, MSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Peer Support Co-Director
Grace is a specialist Physiotherapist in amputee rehabilitation, from Glasgow, Scotland. Grace contracted acute COVID-19 in October 2020 and continues to live with Long COVID. Grace is a co-founder of Long COVID Physio.
Lindsay Skipper MCSP, PGCHE, BSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Peer Support Co-Director
Lindsay Skipper is a physiotherapist whose main clinical interests are musculoskeletal and obstetric physiotherapy. Prior to moving to East Sussex she was a lecturer in musculoskeletal physiotherapy at the University of Nottingham. In recent years she has been working predominantly within inpatient physiotherapy seeing a mixed caseload of orthopaedic, post-surgical and medical patients. She contracted COVID-19 in April 2020 and continues to experience a number of Long COVID sequelae.
Cara Kaup BScPT
Location: Canada
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Peer Support Co-Director
Cara Kaup is a paediatric physical therapist from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Her main clinical interests are paediatric rheumatology, along with infant/toddler and pre-school motor assessment and treatment. Cara contracted COVID-19 in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting Canada. She has been living with Long COVID ever since. Unfortunately, due to false negative PCR tests, she was undiagnosed until May 2021. She has now been diagnosed with Long COVID, dysautonomia and POTS. She hopes to help and support others living with and affected by Long COVID.
Ruth Ainley MCSP, BSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Peer Support Co-Director
Ruth Ainley is a clinical specialist in respiratory Physiotherapy. Ruth runs her own clinic in central London. She worked in the Brompton & Harefield trust, and Northwick Park Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, and continues to see Long COVID patients on a daily basis since returning to private practice. She is a keen advocate for the Long COVID community.
Research Directors
Dr Simon Décary PT, PhD
Location: Canada
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Research Co-Director
Simon Décary is Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation and director of the Patient-Oriented Rehabilitation Lab (SPOR-REHAB), University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Simon's background is researching person-centred care and shared decision making in rehabilitation. He was awarded funding in Canada to study the safety of Long COVID rehabilitation interventions. He is now mandated by the SPOR Evidence Alliance and COVID-END networks in Canada to conduct a living systematic review of international care models and management options for post COVID-19 conditions. He will mobilise knowledge gained from this review to inform best practices in rehabilitation and primary care for Long COVID.
Sarpreet Kahlon PT BHSc, MScPT, MClSc, FCAMPT
Location: Canada
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Research Co-Director
Sarpreet Kahlon (pronouns she/her) is an orthopaedic physiotherapist currently working in Oakville and Brampton, Ontario. She recently completed her Master of Clinical Science from the University of Western Ontario. As a part of her final project she had the opportunity to research COVID-19. She contracted COVID-19 in November 2020 and through the process of exploring the research she was able to educate herself and validate her own ongoing experience with Long COVID. This allowed her to identify the need to advocate for patients with Long COVID within her own community. Her practice has started to evolve into treating patients with Long COVID with the hope of helping them make sense of their individualised experiences. She aspires to continue to raise awareness about the realities and implications of COVID-19.
Education Directors
Prof Todd Davenport DPT, MPH, OCS
Location: United States
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Education Co-Director
Todd is a Professor and Vice Chair at the University of the Pacific (Stockton, California, USA) and a scientific advisor with the Workwell Foundation (Ripon, California, USA). As Education Co-director, he uses his experience in research, education, and advocacy related to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome to help improve health care and quality of life for people with Long COVID.
Dr Daria Oller PT, DPT, ATC
Location: United States
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Education Co-Director
Daria is a Physical Therapist in New Jersey, United States. She specialises in health promotion and prevention, orthopaedics, dance, and sports. She is also an athletic trainer, with a background in clinical practice, research, and education. In March 2020, she contracted COVID-19 and immediately began sharing her lived experience on social media. She continues to be affected by Long COVID. She is a co-founder of Long COVID Physio and a member of the American Physical Therapy Association New Jersey (APTANJ) Long COVID Task Force.
Dr Jessica Drummond DCN, CNS, PT
Location: United States
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Education Co-Director
Dr Jessica Drummond is the CEO of The Integrative Women’s Health Institute and best-selling author of two books, Outsmart Endometriosis and Clinician to Coach. She holds licenses in Physical Therapy and clinical nutrition and is a board certified health coach. She has 22 years experience working with women with chronic pelvic pain and other chronic conditions, facilitates educational programmes for women’s health professionals, and leads virtual wellness programmes for people with endometriosis. Dr Drummond lives and works with her husband and daughters in Houston, Texas, and Fairfield, Connecticut.
Loïc Bel BSc, MSc, Cand
Location: Switzerland
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Education Co-Director
Loïc is a Physiotherapist practicing in a Musculoskeletal (MSK) outpatient clinic in Switzerland. He is also studying an MSc Cand in sports Physiotherapy. Loïc works for the “Commission for the Promotion of Physiotherapy” in Fribourg, Switzerland, where he organises seminars, workshops and webinars. He is a keen advocate for those living with Long COVID and wants to raise awareness and better inform people about the realities of Long COVID.
Advocacy Directors
Cathy Thomson MCSP MSc MMACP
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Advocacy Co-Director
Cathy Thomson is a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist working in the NHS. She contracted COVID-19 in April 2020 and continues to live with Long COVID. Cathy is a member of the Long COVID Support Employment sub-group and is a co-founder of Long COVID Physio.
Jessica DeMars PT, BSc
Location: Canada
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Advocacy Co-Director
Jessica DeMars is a respiratory physiotherapist working in private practice in Canada. Jessica has previously worked with people with respiratory disease and unexplained breathlessness and at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic noticed an increasing number of individuals with ongoing breathlessness seeking treatment after “a viral infection.” Putting two and two together she realised that she was seeing Long COVID and quickly transitioned her practice – and her way of thinking – to better help those living with Long COVID. She is an ally and advocate for those living with Long COVID and is passionate about raising awareness of the realities of Long COVID.
Dr Anjali Agarwal
Location: India
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Advocacy Co-Director
Dr Anjali Agarwal trained in the UK and India, practising as a consultant Physiotherapist and Lifestyle consultant. Anjali currently provides TeleHealth rehabilitation for people living with Long COVID and also separately delivers virtual pulmonary rehabilitation programmes. Anjali also practices in musculoskeletal and pelvic health Physiotherapy. She is the brand ambassador for physical literacy for a badminton academy in India. She represents Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) Society UK in India and treats people living with EDS, Hypermobility, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). She is an advocate for women’s health and promotes postpartum care and pelvic physiotherapy for pre-natal and post-partum mothers in India.
Nnenna Nina Chigbo, PT, MPH, HHHF
Location: Nigeria
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Advocacy Co-Director
Nina is an oncology Physiotherapist in the University of Nigeria Teaching hospital, Enugu where she heads the Exercise Immunology/Palliative care unit. Nina is a Hubert Humphrey fellow with exposure in the Emory Health care, Altlanta, GA United States. She is also cofounder and project coordinator for the African Rehabilitation Network, a group of rehabilitation professionals working in the COVID-19 space in Africa. She is an advocate of rehabilitation in COVID-19 and has been involved in guideline development in this area.
Equity, Diversity & Belonging Directors
Etienne Ngeh BSc MSc
Location: Cameroon
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Equity Diversity and Belonging Co-Director
Etienne Ngeh is a trained Cameroonian Physiotherapist and Cardiac Rehabilitation Specialist based in Cameroon. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy and a Masters of Science in Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation from the University of Chester, England. He is the Head of Physiotherapy Department St. Louis University Bamenda, Cameroon, and leads the Physiotherapy service of the Regional Hospital Bamenda. He is the founder and promoter of the Research Organization for Health Education and Rehabilitation-Cameroon (ROHER-CAM). He is the current Chair of the Guideline-International-Network (GIN) African Regional Community. He is also one of the founders and coordinators of African Rehabilitation Network a community of practice with Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Community Based Rehabilitation Workers among others practicing in the region.
Hannah Violet MCSP, MAACP, BSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Equity Diversity and Belonging Co-Director
Hannah (pronouns she/they) is an Musculoskeletal (MSK) Physiotherapist working in the NHS in Birmingham, UK. She is a mental health first aid champion and advocates for equality and inclusivity in all aspects of life. She contracted COVID-19 in April 2020 and continues to live with Long COVID. She is also a founding member of Long COVID Physio and continues to raise awareness of Long COVID as a COVID Community Champion for Birmingham, but also at work and through day to day life.
Scott Venkataraman PT, DPT, CSCS
Location: United States
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Equity Diversity and Belonging Co-Director
Scott Venkataraman is an outpatient orthopaedic physical therapist living in the United States. He had acute COVID-19 symptoms in August 2020, and continues to live with Long COVID and associated symptoms.
Disability and Rehabilitation Directors
Dr Kelly O’Brien PT, PhD
Location: Canada
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Disability and Rehabilitation Co-Director
Kelly O’Brien (she/her) is a Physical Therapist and clinical epidemiologist. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation (IHPME) and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute (RSI) at the University of Toronto. Kelly holds a Canada Research Chair in Episodic Disability and Rehabilitation from the Canada Research Chairs Program; her research is focused on episodic disability and rehabilitation among people living with longstanding episodic conditions. Kelly is a founding member of the Canada-International HIV and Rehabilitation Research Collaborative (CIHRRC).
Mary Kelly MCSP, BSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Disability and Rehabilitation Co-Director
Mary (pronouns she/her) is a Children and Young People's Physiotherapist based in the UK. She contracted COVID-19 in March 2020 and continues to negotiate the fluctuating nature of Long COVID.
Communication & Social Media Directors
Dr Ted DeChane PT, DPT
Location: United States
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Communication and Social Media Director
Ted DeChane is a Physical Therapist in Michigan, USA. He practices mainly in paediatrics, covering multiple settings including school-based, outpatient, and acute care. Ted became ill with acute COVID-19 in March 2020 and continues to experience persistent symptoms. After connecting with other therapists living with Long COVID, he became a co-founder of Long COVID Physio and has since advocated for patient care and public awareness.
Allied Health Profession (AHP) Directors
Nicole Rothband MBDA, PG Dip Diet, BSc, MSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Allied Health Profession Co-Director
Nicole is a community paediatric Dietitian specialising in allergy. She had acute COVID-19 symptoms in March 2020 and continues to live with Long COVID.
Helen Skiffington MRCOT, BSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Allied Health Profession Co-Director
Helen Skiffington is an Occupational Therapist specialising in neurorehabilitation in London. Helen became unwell with COVID-19 in March 2020 and continues to live with the fluctuating symptoms of Long COVID.
Open Executive Members
Dr Caroline Appel BSc, MSc, PhD
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Open Executive Member
Dr Caroline Appel is a clinical lead physiotherapist in neurorehabilitation in a Central London Borough. She has clinical (Respiratory and Neurosciences ) and academic interests (MSc Human Movement Sciences, PhD Stroke rehabilitation). Caroline contracted COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in March 2020. One of her passions is to promote physical activity in a safe way. She continues to live with Long COVID and is still improving. Caroline is a founding member of Long COVID Physio and open executive member
Kerstin Sendler MCSP Diplom (Univ.)
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Open Executive Member
Kerstin is a German physiotherapist working in a musculoskeletal clinic with special interest in Women's Health/Pelvic Health. She has also a background in research in Exercise science, work-related rehabilitation and Neurology. She contracted COVID-19 in January 2021 and continues to live with Long COVID.
Linda Isaacs MCSP, BSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Long COVID ally
Role: Open Executive Member
Linda is a Musculoskeletal (MSK) Physiotherapist working in private outpatient settings. Linda also works as a digital First Contact Practitioner (FCP) in primary care, where she is a ‘Long COVID Champion’ within a specialised team, advocating and supporting people living with Long COVID.
Felicity Jeyes MCSP, BSc
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Open Executive Member
Felicity is a children’s Physiotherapist based in the West Midlands, UK. She contracted COVID-19 in March 2020 and continues to live with the varying symptoms of Long COVID.
Alyssa Minor, MScPT, BKin
Location: Canada
Status: Person living with Long COVID
Role: Open Executive Member
Alyssa Minor (she/her) is an acute care and neurological Physiotherapist in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She contracted COVID-19 in January 2021 while working with COVID-positive inpatients. She now lives with Long COVID, POTS, and ME. Alyssa has contributed to AHS provider resources, patient resources, data collection, research design, and program development as a member of the Alberta Health Services Post-Covid Taskforce. She is also a member of the ICanCME Research Network Trainee Development & Medical Education working group.
Date Last Revised: 7th May 2022