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Senior Principal Physiotherapist
Singapore General Hospital
I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Dr Shamala Thilarajah is a Senior Principal Physiotherapist at Singapore General Hospital (SGH). Dr Thilarajah has been a physiotherapist since 2004, having completed her Bachelor of Applied Science (Physiotherapy) in 2003, Master of Health Sciences (Neurological Physiotherapy) in 2008 and her PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in 2018. Dr Thilarajah is one of four neurological physiotherapists in Singapore with a PhD in the area of stroke. Her PhD produced the first estimates of physical activity levels of stroke survivors in Singapore, and identified predictors associated with physical activity levels following discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. As part of her PhD, she also developed an innovative GPS and accelerometer which was valid for use in high density cities and amongst stroke survivors with slow walking speeds.
Having trained as a physiotherapist in Sydney and London before returning home to Singapore in 2012, Dr Thilarajah has worked across the continuum of care in the area of stroke. She has held senior clinical positions in neurosurgery, acute stroke, inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient rehabilitation. She has also led successful healthcare services/projects, such as TARGET (transitional gym project in London for people with long-term neurological conditions) and physiotherapy movement disorders clinic in Sydney. At present, Dr Thilarajah is the physiotherapy lead for the Neurorecovery (SGH pilot) and the One Rehab programme (MOH pilot). An energetic and inspiring educator, Dr Thilarajah has been teaching regularly on PAGHI courses for the past 5 years; these include Clinical Reasoning for Physiotherapy Management of Stroke (targeted at physiotherapists specialising in neurological physiotherapy) and Evidence-based Physiotherapy. She also supervises undergraduate physiotherapy students from Singapore Institute of Technology (12 students for 5 projects in total) and is one of the mentors in the Friday scholarship seminar with the DukeNUS medical school. A passionate advocate for people with stroke and other disabilities, Dr Thilarajah was recently awarded the Healthcare Humanity Awards (Volunteer category). She believes in equal access to social participation for people with disabilities. She has been an avid volunteer with Singapore National Stroke Association (SNSA) since 2015; she is the current elected President of SNSA. Dr Thilarajah is also in the present cohort of World Stroke Organisation Future Leader programme (2020-2022).
