Dr. Cornelia Anne Barth

Profile

Dr. Cornelia Anne Barth LE Weiterbildung & LE Fachbereich Physio

  • Contact hours Tuesday
    Wednesday
    Thursday
  • Address Berner Fachhochschule
    School of Health Professions
    Weiterbildung Gesundheit
    Murtenstrasse 10
    3008 Bern

Activities

  • Head of Continuing Education in Health

  • Head of School of Physiotherapy

Research

  • Disability, Rehabilitation, Assistive Technology, Physiotherapy

  • Global and Humanitarian Health

  • Gender

  • Health Services and Health Systems

  • Health Equity

  • Qualitative Research; Participatory and Community-Based Research Approaches

CV

  • Nel Barth is head of the physiotherapy division and the continuing education programme at the School of Health Professions at Bern University of Applied Sciences. In these roles, she is a member of the School's steering committee and the University's continuing education committee. Prior to this, she was the coordinator of Cochrane Switzerland, promoting and enhancing evidence-based healthcare decision-making. Nel is a physiotherapist with a PhD in rehabilitation in fragile health systems and extensive experience in conflict-affected, low-resource contexts. Her work in strengthening rehabilitation in humanitarian settings has taken her to 28 different countries. After settling in Geneva, she continued her work in the humanitarian field, building research and teaching capacity. This included leading a research project on gender and access to rehabilitation in fragile contexts funded by the Swedish Research Council and a project on war trauma physiotherapy for Ukrainian universities funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Her academic output includes qualitative and participatory approaches, gender issues, policy papers and population studies. Nel is associate editor of the Assistive Technology Journal and reviewer for several journals.
  • 2024 - today Head of School of Physiotherapy Bern University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
  • 2024 - today Head of Continuing Education in Health Bern University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
  • 2021 - 2024 Coordinator of Cochrane Switzerland Cochrane Switzerland, Unisanté, Switzerland
  • 2021 - 2023 Research Project Manager Unisanté, Switzerland
  • 2017 - 2021 Global Rehabilitation Specialist International Committee of the Red Cross, Switzerland
  • 2008 - 2016 International Humanitarian Cooperation (diverse positions) Médecins Sans Frontières, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), German Corporation for International Cooperation, Handicap International, International Medical Corps, World Physiotherapy
  • 1997 - 2014 Clinical Physiotherapist Diverse Employers in Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Guinea
  • 2006 - 2008 Lecturer for Physiotherapy and Allied Health Professions Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
  • 2001 - 2006 Lecturer for Physiotherapy Munich School for Physiotherapy (GFEB), Germany
  • 2023 PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) University College Dublin, Ireland
  • 2005 BSc (Bachelor of Medical Science in Physiotherapy) Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
  • 2002 MSc (Master of Science in Neurophysiotherapy) University College London, United Kingdom
  • 1997 State Diploma School of Physiotherapy, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
  • CAS Leading Complex Multidisciplinary Teams, 2021; Humanitarian Leadership and Management School (HLMS), ICRC and University Luzern
  • CAS Leading by Example, 2020; HLMS, ICRC and University Luzern
  • Certificate Coaching and Communication Skills, 2016; Leadership, Management and Governance Project; Management Sciences for Health
  • CAS Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2008; PH Zurich
  • Associate Editor: Assistive Technology Journal
  • Reviewer: PLOS One, PLOS Global Public Health, Physical Therapy in Sport, World Physiotherapy Congress, physioscience

Publications

Memberships

Awards

Supervised theses

Language skills and intercultural knowledge

  • German - Native or bilingual proficiency
  • English - Full professional proficiency
  • French - Full professional proficiency