St Vincent's Physio up for prestigious State Award

24 Jan 2023

St Vincent’s ICU physiotherapist, Dr George Ntoumenopoulos has been selected as a finalist in the NSW Allied Health Awards 2022, in the category of Allied Health Researcher of the Year.

George has led global research in the use of thoracic ultrasound as a diagnostic and treatment tool for the management of key pulmonary diseases, particularly for patients within an ICU setting. His research found that the use of thoracic ultrasound significantly impacts on clinical decision making by physiotherapists in ICU, with increased diagnostic accuracy when compared to the use of portable chest radiography, while minimising non-essential radiation exposure for patients.

Additionally George was awarded the Reader’s Choice award by Journal of Physiotherapy as co-author in the publication, Physiotherapy management for COVID-19 in the acute hospital setting: clinical practice recommendations. This publication was developed in collaboration with colleagues from across Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Canada and the United Kingdom, providing recommendations for physiotherapy management for COVID-19 during the early stages of the pandemic. These guidelines have been used in practice since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and have been downloaded more than 180,000 times across the globe.

Reflecting on the nomination, George said, "It is a great honour to have been nominated for this award. I look forward to progressing the scope of practice of physiotherapy in ICU, focussing on the use of point of care ultrasound to improve clinical decision making of the critically ill patient".

George is currently primary investigator in a multicentre study on ECMO patients and early rehabilitation in the ICU setting.

This announcement is fitting recognition for George’s innovation and leadership in this space. Winners will be announced on February 23.

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Dr George Ntoumenopoulos

Photo taken by Kate Geraghty: documenting COVID-19 frontliners