Meet the power couple of back pain research
听补苍诲听聽have more in common than most married couples. Both physiotherapists turned back pain researchers; the Brazilian-born duo have both recently been awarded the same prestigious national fellowship.
As some of Australia鈥檚 best up-and-coming medical research talent, the Ferreiras received National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Career Development Fellowships to progress their work on one of the world鈥檚 most common health conditions.
Manuela鈥檚 focus is on surgical management of low back pain, while Paulo is interested in the lifestyle factors that can be tweaked to prevent and treat back pain.
Earlier this year, Manuela led a groundbreaking study聽. She is also leading a placebo trial of surgery for spinal stenosis, new methods for post-surgery rehabilitation and whether telehealth and text message-based interventions can help manage acute lower back pain.
Paulo is currently investigating what types of physical activities cause low back pain, and along with colleagues, is looking into whether playing video games can help older people, even those in nursing homes, manage lower back pain. A聽, he is also investigating the role of genetics in back pain by studying twins.
Paulo says they are both interested in back pain because it is so common 鈥� affecting 80 percent of people in their lifetime, it鈥檚 the highest contributor to disability in Australia, costing an estimated $4.8 billion in 2012 鈥� but is rarely studied.聽聽聽
鈥淏ecause back pain is not life-threatening, it does not receive the attention it deserves, but it is a very serious condition. It is associated with higher mortality rates, and affects people鈥檚 lives鈥�.
鈥淭he use of technology, such as telehealth and video games, can be very helpful to manage back pain in a healthy and non-invasive manner.鈥�
Rewind 20 years and the Ferreiras met at a University in Brazil before moving halfway across the world to start PhDs at the University of Sydney.
鈥淲hen we first moved here, it was really hard. I missed my family support (nine brothers and sisters!) but giving up was not an option,鈥� Manuela, whose father experienced chronic back pain, said.
But she persevered, having their first child while completing their PhDs.
鈥淧aulo and I took her everywhere with us. We didn鈥檛 have any family who could help out, so we even took her when gathering data for our theses. It was a great icebreaker. Patients loved seeing her. We had the highest follow-up rates we鈥檝e ever had because people wanted to see her again.鈥�
Now both well-respected academics at Sydney鈥檚 Faculty of Health Sciences,聽聽and the聽, with two children in high school, Manuela and Paulo concede that there are difficulties being a couple in academia.聽
鈥淥ur daughters say they never want to date someone with the name 鈥楪rant鈥�. They鈥檙e sick of hearing that word in our house,鈥� Manuela says with a laugh.聽
鈥淎nd it can definitely take a couple of days into a holiday before we stop talking about work. But I honestly don鈥檛 know what I would do if I wasn鈥檛 an academic. I just love doing research.鈥�
鈥淭he ultimate research goal is to establish a safer and effective management pathway for patients with low back pain in Australia and overseas. Simple care solutions that can be translated to different settings and cultures.鈥�