Dr Joseph McVeigh
Head of Discipline of Physiotherapy and Research Lead
Dr McVeigh is Head of Discipline of Physiotherapy and Research Lead for the School of Clinical Therapies, University College Cork (UCC). Before joining UCC Dr McVeigh was a member of faculty at Ulster University. Dr McVeigh was one of the first joint clinical-academic posts in physiotherapy in the North of Ireland. Dr McVeigh was previously employed in the NHS specialising in the rehabilitation of long-term musculoskeletal conditions.
Dr McVeigh was awarded his PhD, ‘Physiotherapy Management of Fibromyalgia Syndrome’ in 2007, and while he maintains his research interest in chronic pain, his area of research has expanded to include the non-pharmacological management of long-term conditions, particularly behaviour change, self-management and physical activity.
More recently, Dr McVeigh’s research is exploring the application and impact of virtual reality as an adjunct to rehabilitation. Dr McVeigh is a founding member of the XR4REHAB Collaboration & Innovation Network, a European forum to facilitate research collaboration and improve rehabilitation and healthcare by exploiting XR technology.
Dr McVeigh has more than 70 peer reviewed publications, he is currently supervising eight PhD students and has supervised five PhD students to completion. Dr McVeigh has obtained successful research funding in excess of €12.4 million from major grant awarding bodies including: Interreg Northwest Europe; Erasmus Europe; HSC R&D Division Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland; National Patient Safety Office of the DoH, Ireland; Arthritis Research and the Physiotherapy Research Foundation.
Dr McVeigh was Editor-in-Chief of Physiotherapy Practice and Research (2008 – 2019) and is a founding Editorial Board Member and Section Editor of Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation, an Official Journal of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Dr McVeigh's optimistic outlook and faith in the future is demonstrated by the fact that he was the physiotherapist for the Co. Down Senior Hurling team for 10 years!