Dr Julia Treleaven

Senior Lecturer

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences
j.treleaven@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 54568

Overview

Julia is a Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Queensland. She has been researching whiplash and neck pain since 2000 and in 2004 completed her PhD focusing on the necks influence on sensorimotor control. She has continued her research in this area in idiopathic neck pain, headache, the elderly and post concussion. She has over 100 publications in this area, written several book chapters and is one of the authors of the book “Management of neck disorders- an evidenced based approach”. Julia works part-time as a physiotherapist in a private practice managing patients such as those with, whiplash, cervicogenic dizziness and post concussion syndrome and been involved as a clinician on several whiplash RCTs. Julia is also an assessor at the Whiplash Physical Diagnostic Clinic. Julia has been an invited speaker at many national and international conferences and workshops in the area of neck pain, whiplash, concussion and dizziness.

Research Interests

  • Research Interests
    I am a co-leader of the Neck and Head research unit (NAHRU) which was formerly the Cervical spine and whiplash research unit. We have developed NAHRU in an effort to expand the scope of this group as well as make this inclusive of other domains of physiotherapy such as vestibular and head and neck cancer. This has allowed us to expand our group as well as fit with the expanding areas of research with respect to headache, concussion, temporomandibular disorders (TMD) etc. My role in the NAHRU involves organising of monthly meetings to assist mentoring and progression of our students as well as foster collaborations and research between members of the team. I also run the laboratory that research is conducted in this area ensuring all personnel are adequately trained, that risk assessments and occupational health considerations are adhered to. The major theme of my research to date has been in the role of the cervical spine in producing symptoms other than pain such as dizziness and visual disturbances and the cervical spine’s role in head and eye movement control and postural stability. More recently this has also extended into the areas of headache, TMD and concussion. I am particularly interested in differential diagnosis and investigating clinical tests that can help physiotherapists identify when the cervical spine is implicated in these symptoms and signs. This research has led me to consider populations with neck pain, headache (migraine, tension type headache and cervicogenic), concussion, visual, TMD and vestibular impairments.

Research Impacts

My research and its translation to clinical practice have gained the attention of clinicians and researchers internationally and has had a significant impact on, and uptake in, clinical practice internationally. This is evidenced by:

  • Keynote and invited conference presentations (USA, Europe, UK, South Africa and New Zealand, Australia)
  • Convenor of 3 focused symposiums for the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapists conferences in 2012 and 2016, 2020 accepted but postponed due to Covid-19
  • Invitations to present professional development courses to clinicians nationally and internationally (Europe, UK, Thailand, Korea, Australia and New Zealand)
  • Uptake of our text: Jull, G., Sterling, M., Falla, D., Treleaven, J., & O'Leary, S. C. (2008). Whiplash, Headache and Neck Pain. London: Elsevier. It has approximately 6,000 sales, has been translated into 4 languages and has been cited 92 times. The text has been updated was released in October 2018. Jull, G., M., Falla, D., Treleaven J., & O'Leary, S. Management of neck Pain Disorders: a research informed approach. Elsevier UK 2018

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Physiotherapy, The University of Queensland

Publications

View all Publications

Supervision

View all Supervision

Available Projects

  • Neck and arm pain in workers

    Cervicogenic dizziness - differential diagnosis

    Post traumatic/ concussional headache

    Vestibular migraine

    Relevance of the myodural bridge of the upper cervical spine post truama

    Temporomandibular disorders

View all Available Projects

Publications

Book

Book Chapter

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Master Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

  • Master Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

Completed Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • Neck and arm pain in workers

    Cervicogenic dizziness - differential diagnosis

    Post traumatic/ concussional headache

    Vestibular migraine

    Relevance of the myodural bridge of the upper cervical spine post truama

    Temporomandibular disorders