Senior Lecturer
Dr Matthew Jones
- PhD (Physiology & Pharmacology), UNSW Sydney, Australia
- MSc (Research), UNSW Sydney, Australia
- BExPhys, UNSW Sydney, Australia
- Accredited Exercise Physiologist (2011 - present)
Medicine & Health
School of Health Sciences
I am an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & Health. I was awarded my PhD from UNSW Sydney in 2017. My clinical, research and teaching expertise concern the role of exercise for the management of chronic pain and chronic fatigue.
Through my research, I aim to improve health outcomes and quality of life for people with low back pain, knee osteoarthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome and post-cancer fatigue. Underpinning my research is a commitment to Open Science principles to improve research transparency and openness and a strong desire to improve the methodological rigor of research in my field.
I lead several research groups that aim to investigate:
- Exercise-induced hypoalgesia - the phenomenon through which a single session of exercise reduces pain
- Ways to optimise exercise and education interventions for people with chronic low back pain, knee osteoarthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome
- Exercise physiologists' management of pain and fatigue, and ways to improve this
- Ways to improve transparent and open research practices in the field of sports and exercise medicine
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- 2023-2026: CAPACITY: A telehealth, effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial to increase physical activity in adults with chronic low back pain (MRF2023932, $1,384,136)
- 2021: Identifying barriers and enablers to exercise adherence in people with chronic low back pain (School of Health Sciences Networking Seed Grant, $9,726).
- 2021: Creaky knees and exercise beliefs and participation: A mixed methods study (Arthritis Australia Project Grant, $15,000)
- 2018: An integrated model in improving frailty (SPHERE Age and Ageing CAG Seed Funding, $100,000)
- 2018: Investigating the association between fatigue and pain, and the factors that influence them, in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (Mason Foundation, $98,000)
- 2018: What are Exercise Physiologists saying? – Developing targeted pain neuroscience education to improve exercise outcomes for knee osteoarthritis (ESSA Tom Penrose Grant, $6,000)
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2022: School of Health Sciences Award for Researcher of the Year
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2022: School of Health Sciences Award for Course of the Year
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2021: School of Health Sciences Award for Early Career Educator of the Year
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2021: School of Health Sciences Award for Early Career Researcher of the Year
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2020: Faculty of Medicine Education Award for Excellence in Innovation (Team - Exercise Physiology Practicum)
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2020: Faculty of Medicine Education Award for Excellence in Innovation (Team - UNSW Lifestyle Clinic Exercise Physiologists)
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2020: School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine New Research of the Year
I am an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and investigate the role of exercise for the management of chronic pain and chronic fatigue. Pain and fatigue are closely related sensations which, when persistent, have debilitating effects on health and quality of life. More specifically, my research focuses on the role of exercise for improving outcomes for people with low back pain, knee osteoarthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome and post-cancer fatigue, as well as improving the way Exercise Physiologists manage people with these conditions.
I lead a research group that seeks to better understand how a single bout of exercise affects pain and how this can be modified to enhance the pain-relieving effect of exercise. I contribute to other research groups that use experimental, clinical and translational methods to develop and test new interventions to manage chronic pain and chronic fatigue. My research also seeks to understand gaps in Exercise Physiologists' delivery of guideline care for people with chronic pain and fatigue, and designing and evaluating ways to address this.
Media
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Jones, MD (December 17, 2020). Specialised exercise could be key to reducing chronic back pain. ABC News Radio Live. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/radio/newsradio/specialised-exercise-could-be-key-to-reducing/12994818
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Jones, MD (August 13, 2014). How exercise helps us tolerate pain. The New York Times (Well – PhysEd). Retrieved from https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/how-exercise-helps-us-tolerate-pain
Memberships
- 2011 - present: Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Exercise and Sports Science Australia
- 2018 - present: Member, Osteoarthritis working group, SPHERE
- 2018 - present: Member, Translational Cancer Research Network
- 2020 - present: Australian and New Zealand Musculoskeletal Clinical Trials Network
Practice
- 2017-2019: Accredited Exercise Physiologist, UNSW Fatigue Clinic
My Research Supervision
PhD candidates:
- Mr Michael Wewege: Improving the use of analgesic medicines for low back pain
- Mr Adrian Ram: What are Exercise Physiologists saying? Developing targeted pain neuroscience education to improve exercise outcomes for knee osteoarthritis
- Ms Kelly McLeod: EXCITE: Exercise to decrease Cardio-Metabolic Disease Risk
- Mr Harrison Hansford: The generalisability and transportability of musculoskeletal research
- Mr Yannick Gilanyi: Using process evaluations of treatment mechanisms and qualitative experiences to inform the implementation of a multi-modal intervention for CRPS
MSc candidates:
- Mr Alexander Kovats: My knees are creaky: have I got arthritis? An exercise and education intervention to support self-management of knee joint symptoms
- Mr Grant Holmes: Can females accurately predict proximity to failure during resistance training using repetitions in reserve?
Honours students:
- Ms Brishna Shah: Effectiveness of analgesic medicines for low back pain: A component network meta-analysis
- Mr Andrew Natoli: How do people perceive exercise when experiencing low back pain?
- Ms Emily Walker: How do Australian exercise-based practitioners approach the management of chronic low back pain?
- Mr Theo Last: Do the attitudes and beliefs of exercise-based practitioners impact confidence of treatment modalities for chronic low back pain?
- Mr George Azer: Attitudes of people with chronic low back pain towards physical activity and exercise: a qualitative study
My Teaching
My clinical experience as an Exercise Physiologist has had a large impact on my teaching activities, which align closely with tasks that Exercise Physiologists would routinely perform in real-world clinical settings. This includes a strong emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving through student-centred learning modalities that require students to take a deeper approach to their learning. In recognition of the many different ways students learn, I use a variety of teaching styles and resources to support this. I also place considerable emphasis on fit for purpose assessment to better guide students' development regarding relevant clinical skills and competencies.
I am also a strong believer in students as 'scientist practitioners' - being able to critically appraise and use scientific evidence to inform their care delivery. Accordingly, I place strong emphasis on developing students' research skills as I believe this will make them a better clinician. Ultimately, my goal is to help students develop into competent and confident new graduate Exercise Physiologists who can adopt an evidence-based, person-centred approach in their care delivery.
Further information regarding my teaching can be found here