Dr Austin Claffey

I joined LSBU in 2015 after over 20 years in clinical practice in the UK and Ireland. My area of clinical expertise is in neurosciences and neurological rehabilitation, and I have worked in acute, inpatient, rehabilitation and community services. I am particularly interested in how neuropsychological impairment translates to functional ability and rehabilitation strategies that can help at both impairment and functional levels.
In clinical practice, I have been a professional lead for occupational therapy, operational manager of multidisciplinary AHP teams and in education, a course director, external examiner, and reviewer for BJOT.

I completed an MSc in Cognitive Neuropsychology and investigated an intervention using prism glasses for amelioration of hemispatial neglect for people with right hemisphere stroke.
My PhD investigated how accurately people with Multiple Sclerosis could predict their likely memory performance and reported, versus tested, differences in memory ability. The aim of this was to better understand how clinicians might interpret both ‘no complaint of memory difficulty’, and ‘complaint of memory difficulty’.
In 2022 I became a Core Partner for Irish Health Research Board funded Collaborative Doctoral Award consortium project titled ‘Enhancing evidence-based specialist multidisciplinary care for motor neuron disease in a digital age’ hosted at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. These 5 PhD projects aim to develop research capacity for allied health professionals and develop evidence-based management pathways for people with MND.
I have worked internationally with a rehabilitation training company since 2008, providing training for occupational therapists in neuropsychological rehabilitation.