Ilana Ackerman APAM has been involved one way or another with the Physiotherapy Research Foundation (PRF) for much of her research career.

A recipient of tagged grants earlier in her career, Ilana has also been a member of the Grants Review Committee and more recently was part of the PRF Advisory Group.

Established in 1988, the PRF supports the physiotherapy profession by promoting, encouraging and facilitating research that builds capability in order to advance physiotherapy knowledge and practice.

Through its allocation of research grants, the PRF contributes to the physiotherapy profession’s evidence base and supports new researchers in their careers.

In 2021, the PRF awarded more than $88,000 in grants and prizes.

Ilana sees the PRF as a vital supporter of physiotherapy research in Australia, noting that it is essential for physiotherapy to continue building its evidence base.

And it’s especially useful for those physiotherapists at the beginning of their research careers, she says.

‘It’s a fantastic starting point for many new and emerging researchers in physiotherapy, as PhD students or as early career researchers.

'It’s given many people a place to start with smaller projects or pilot work that they’ve then used to build a larger or ongoing research program,’ Ilana says.

‘We have to compete with all sorts of other health professionals, including medical professionals and nursing colleagues, when we apply for broader grants, but the PRF is targeted to physiotherapist applicants.

'It’s a niche area of funding for our profession.’

And physiotherapy research, says Ilana, is a crucial aspect of the profession, providing the evidence base that underpins our treatments.

‘There’s many areas of physiotherapy practice where we have a really strong evidence base and there’s other areas where we need to keep developing that evidence base.

'PRF-funded research is one of the few ways that physiotherapist researchers can access grants that are targeted to our areas of research and practice.

'I think it’s really important for physiotherapists to support the PRF so that it can continue to support research undertaken by new and emerging researchers in particular,’ she says.

Early in her research career, Ilana received two tagged grants from the PRF.

Her first, in 2006, allowed her to undertake a mixed methods analysis of data she had collected during her PhD.

She went on to receive an NHMRC Public Health Early Career Fellowship from 2008 to 2015 to look at the impact of severe knee and hip osteoarthritis in Australia.

Her second tagged PRF grant in 2009 funded the first national survey of severe hip and knee arthritis in Australia.

The resulting paper has been cited 63 times.

As a chief investigator, Ilana has since been awarded more than $10 million in funding for her research program from various sources.

‘That’s a good example of the type of project that would have been difficult to get other grant funding for, but the PRF recognised the potential outcomes of the project and its importance,’ Ilana says about the survey.

‘It was also a turning point for me in my research program because up until that time I’d been working on clinically focused projects with very direct relevance to physiotherapy and patient outcomes.

'From then I shifted my research course to a more public health focus and population perspective, taking a “big picture” approach to looking at the problem of osteoarthritis and its impacts.’

Like Ilana, many researchers who have received PRF grants have gone on to have distinguished academic careers, generating funding for their research from other sources and becoming world-leading experts.

Their research outputs have impacted many different areas of clinical physiotherapy and influenced practice worldwide.

Access to programs such as the PRF’s seeding grants have a few important outcomes for early career researchers, says Ilana.

‘One, they are a starting point on your research track record and two, they allow you to do those smaller studies which then form the basis for planning bigger studies and larger grant applications,’ she says.

‘And once you’ve completed these studies you usually go on to report the findings and share this new knowledge.

'So they’re also important for allowing new researchers to publish and present their work in the field.’

She also advocates for physiotherapy researchers to consider applying for positions on the PRF Grants Review Committee when they come up.

‘It’s a great opportunity for physiotherapy researchers to see how grant applications are reviewed and discussed, and it is helpful for when you come to prepare future applications.

'Also you’re in a very fortunate position to be able to hear about planned projects and exciting methods that researchers are planning to use,’ Ilana says.

‘And to see the breadth of research that’s being planned and undertaken in Australia is really fantastic.'