Inaugural Professorial Lecture – Professor Deborah Snell
Beliefs and expectations: the psychology of recovery after injury and illness
About Professor Deborah Snell (Research Professor)
Deborah is a clinician scientist with a background in clinical psychology and neuropsychology. Much of her clinical and research career has focused on improving rehabilitation outcomes for people living with musculoskeletal and neurological conditions, especially the psychological and psychosocial factors that influence those outcomes. She was one of the first researchers to systematically examine theoretically derived models of health and illness behaviour and outcomes after concussion. This work, spanning more than a decade, has expanded to include various psychological determinants of concussion recovery, more latterly focusing on validating effective psychological screening tools and building research evidence for treatment.
Deborah also directs clinical trials at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch, investigating a range of orthopaedic outcomes, including post-surgical pain, psychosocial and quality of life improvements. She particularly values working with postgraduate students and collaborating with other health and rehabilitation researchers, clinicians and service users around Aotearoa and internationally.