Personal Statement
Dr Ellen Slungaard graduated as a physiotherapist in 1999 from Teesside University. She has worked in the National Health Service (NHS), private healthcare and professional sport, prior to joining the Royal Air Force as a Commissioned Officer and Physiotherapist in 2010. Currently holding the rank of Squadron Leader, she has deployed on operations and exercises around the world. Her current role in the RAF is as Clinical Lead Physiotherapist at DMRC Stanford Hall specialising in musculoskeletal injures specifically to the neck and upper quadrant. She is also the Aviation Medicine Lead Physiotherapist for the RAF, and Head of Medical for the RAF Rugby Union Senior Men’s squad.

Dr Slungaard completed an M.Sc. in Advanced Physiotherapy (Sports) from University College London in 2008, and a P.G.Dip. in Advanced Manipulative Physiotherapy from University of Birmingham in 2012 which included eligibility for membership of the Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (MACP) as an advanced musculoskeletal physiotherapist.

In 2018, she completed a Ph.D. in Physiology (Human and Aerospace Physiological Sciences) at the Centre for Human and Applied Physiological Sciences (CHAPS) at King’s College London. Her doctoral thesis was entitled: The development and evaluation of a structured conditioning programme on physiological performance under conditions of high +Gz. This work and subsequent research papers were used as a case study for KCL's REF21 submission and was graded 4* (world leading) for research impact.

She joined University of Liverpool in 2019 initially in a part-time role as a Lecturer in Physiotherapy primarily teaching research and musculoskeletal modules. Dr Slungaard left the teaching team and became an Honorary Clinical Fellow in 2022, and was awarded a HEE/NIHR Post-Doctoral Bridging Fellowship award to develop research on neck pain in aircrew and other high performance adults.

She maintains an active research profile with external international and national collaborations, and is the Chair of the Aerospace and High Performance Task Group within the International Movement Screening and Interventions Group (IMSIG).