Physio researcher is first AHP to be awarded CSO Early Postdoctoral Fellowship

Glasgow Caledonian University physiotherapy lecturer and researcher Dr Vicky Joshi has been awarded an Early Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Chief Scientist Office (CSO).

During the three-year full-time Fellowship, based at Glasgow Caledonian’s School of Health and Life Sciences, Dr Joshi will develop cardiac arrest aftercare interventions for survivors and their families in Scotland through the CAROUSel project.

The CAROUSel project received £353,270 from the CSO and runs from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2028. Dr Joshi’s supervisors will be Professor of Nursing Carol Bugge, Dr Gareth Glegg, from the University of Edinburgh, and Dr Chris Seenan, from the University of Stirling.

The project will be supported by the Save A Life For Scotland (SALFS) campaign, which brings together the emergency services, NHS, third sector organisations, Scottish Government and academic researchers to improve survival rates after a cardiac arrest.

Dr Joshi is the first allied health professional (AHP) to be awarded an Early Postdoctoral Fellowship by the CSO. She is currently the Director of SALFS Recovery, a partner group to SALFS, focused on cardiac arrest aftercare.

More than 3,000 people a year now survive a cardiac arrest in the UK due to substantial investment in community defibrillators, resuscitation training and advances in pre-hospital and intensive care treatment. However, Dr Joshi explained that many survivors feel that the support, research and investments stop there.

Dr Joshi said: “While they are grateful to be alive, they are left to manage the significant psychological, cognitive and physical problems after a cardiac arrest alone. Their families are also affected by the lack of information and support which increases fear and anxiety, and long-term carer burden.

“The evidence for the secondary problems after a cardiac arrest is extensive but we continue to have little evidence on the effect of aftercare interventions on these secondary problems. Without this evidence, it is unlikely that health organisations and policymakers will support initiatives to improve cardiac arrest aftercare.

“However, given the complexity of cardiac arrest survivorship, it is crucial that any new intervention is thoroughly developed before it is evaluated to ensure it is effective and feasible, and to avoid wasting research resources or creating unnecessary delays in delivering cardiac arrest aftercare for survivors.”