Elena qualified as a physiotherapist from San Raffaele University of Milan in 2006. She enjoys travelling and experiencing different cultures which prompted her decision to start her career as a paediatric physiotherapist in India (Delhi). Elena returned to Italy where she held a rotational post in the Italian NHS for over ten years. She developed a number of transferable clinical skills, including neurological, orthopaedic and geriatrics rehabilitation.
As she always maintained a strong interest in research, Elena decided to move to Scotland in 2014 where she had the opportunity to refine her skills in research methodologies, methods and leadership. Elena completed her MSc in Physiotherapy at Glasgow Caledonian University with a thesis on the effectiveness of robot-assisted upper limb therapy in adults with acute stroke in 2015. Later on in 2018 she further graduated with a MSc in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Milan.
Elena began her PhD at Glasgow Caledonian University in 2019. The aim of her PhD project is designing a standardised model of levels of upper limb activity limitation after stroke that is clinically meaningful, valid, and feasible for routine clinical practice and research.
With her research, Elena aims to enable clinicians to describe levels of loss of arm function, select appropriate interventions and predict recovery in stroke survivors. The model will be designed to compare findings across studies, thereby it may help facilitating data pooling to strengthen the evidence base underpinning guidelines.
Elena works under the supervision of Doctor Fiona Coupar, Doctor Myzoon Ali and Professor Frederike vanWijck