Dayna Pool
Honorary Research Associate
dayna.pool@curtin.edu.au
Dr Dayna Pool is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the School of Allied Health at Curtin University (2019 to present) and the Clinical Lead of The Healthy Strides Foundation. Within these roles, Dr Pool is a clinical researcher who leads the clinical implementation of evidence-based practice, knowledge translation (digital) and the development of authentic partnerships with consumers through co-designing clinical trials and programs for children with neurodisabilities. Dr Pool is an internationally recognised research leader in developing interventions by influencing physical activity in children with neurodisability having both developed and led (CIA) 8 clinical trials (>$2M) and is currently co-leading a national RCT (CIE $2.1M funded by NHMRC) and codesign study (CIB $1.1M funded by MRFF). Dr Pool develops, and pilots all of her studies and projects in partnership with community clinical service and consumers, measuring outcomes in health and well-being. She has achieved >$5.95M in grants, published 12 articles with 229 citations.
Leadership and Professional Activities
Dr Pool is the Clinical Lead and Founder of The Healthy Strides Foundation (2018 – present providing clinical and research supervision for 20 multidisciplinary staff. Dr Pool is also the Clinical lead of Healthy Strides Malaysia, purposed to promote evidence-based practices in developing countries. Dr Pool founded and co-hosts the ResearchWorks podcast, a knowledge translation tool aimed at promoting evidence based practices for allied health clinicians. Since its establishment, the uptake of the podcast has risen quickly and is now ranked in the top 15% of podcasts globally (>100,000 downloads, >120 episodes).
Awards/honours
- 2021: Westfield Local Hero Award, (WA)
- 2021: Australian Paediatric Innovation and Team Culture Award (Allied Health Awards, Aus)
- 2020: 40 under 40 award winner in WA (Business News, WA)
- 2019: Australian Paediatric Practice Excellence Award (Allied Health Awards, Australia)
- 2018: Finalist Social Entrepreneur of the Year (Third Sector, Aus) and Innovative Practice Award for Allied Health Team (Rotary Allied Health Awards, WA)
- 2017: Best Poster for Research and Innovation (Curtin University, WA)
Projects
Active Strides-CP: Randomised trial of Intensive Rehabilitation (combined Intensive gait and cycling training) for children with moderate to severe bilateral cerebral palsy
Active Strides-CP is an RCT assessing a new treatment for children with moderate to severe CP, combining intensive gait and cycling training to simultaneously address motor and participation outcomes.
CP Movetime: A wearable sensor and user interface to reduce sedentary behaviours in non-ambulant children and youth with cerebral palsy
CP Movetime aims to establish and test a technology-based application to improve health outcomes by monitoring device measured sedentary behaviours in non-ambulant children and youth with cerebral palsy.
Published research
ACTIVE STRIDES-CP: Protocol for a randomised trial of intensive rehabilitation (combined intensive gait and cycling training) for children with moderate-to-severe bilateral cerebral palsy
For children with cerebral palsy (CP), who are marginally ambulant, gross motor capacity peaks between 6 and 7 years of age with a subsequent clinical decline, impacting their ability to engage in physical activity. Active Strides-CP is a novel package of physiotherapy targeting body functions, activity and participation outcomes for children with bilateral CP. This study will compare Active Strides-CP to usual care in a multisite randomised waitlist-controlled trial.