Dr Christina Michailidou

Dr Christina Michailidou is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nicosia. She studied Physiotherapy at the Higher Technical Educational Institution of Thessaloniki, Greece. She obtained her PhD (2012) and her MSc in Neurorehabilitation (2001) from Brunel University, London. Her PhD was sponsored by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research council (EPSRC). In 2006, while she was studying for her PhD, she was selected, along with two others, to give a presentation to Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II, who visited Brunel University. The topic of the presentation was on therapeutic mechanical horse riding for people with spinal cord injuries and children with cerebral palsy.

In 2006 she started working as a research physiotherapist for the world’s largest, up to date, randomised research trial on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, the PACE trial. Her training included strict criteria and lasted for several months. In particular she worked in two hospitals in London, the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust and the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s Health Partners where she continued to work after the end of the trial. In addition, from 2012 until 2015 she worked as a freelancer – Graded Exercise Therapy Specialist, traveling around the UK to visit patients with chronic fatigue and chronic pain. She has extensive experience in the rehabilitation of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and chronic fatigue which presents in other conditions too, such as cancer and fibromyalgia. She has participated in the training and education of health professionals on using Graded Exercise therapy to rehabilitate chronic fatigue. She has been the co-author of the first Self-Help Guide on Graded Exercise Therapy for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that was published from a UK Hospital.

Upon completion of her PhD and in addition to her job at the hospital and her freelance work, she began her postdoctoral work at University College London (UCL). She worked in ovarian cancer at the Institute for Women’s Health. Upon completion of the post-doc she returned to her birthplace Kavala, Greece. In Kavala she started teaching on a regular basis while at the same time she kept a research associate position, which she still holds, with King’s College University, London. In September 2017 she entered the family of University of Nicosia.

Dr Michailidou is a certified physiotherapist in both the UK and Italy.