Meet Prasath Jayakaran

The vast nation of India with a population approaching 1.4 billion presents many challenges for physiotherapists and healthcare workers.

On average a road accident leading to injury or death occurs every 4 minutes. Changing diets have led to a surge in cases of diabetes and related health conditions.

Prasath Jayakaran from Vellore in the state of Tamil Nadu takes a particular interest in issues surrounding loss of mobility due to amputation. He is a key member of a cross-disciplinary group at Otago, and also leads our research in the School of Physiotherapy's Balance clinic.

Formative experiences

From an early age, Prasath felt drawn to the field of healthcare and was keen to follow a professional path, along Western lines.

He completed his undergraduate degree in physiotherapy at the Tamil Nadu Medical University in Chennai and his Masters in Sports Physiotherapy at Hamdard University in New Delhi. Prasath would go on to further his postgraduate studies at Otago.

His early clinical experience at the Christian Medical College in Vellore proved life-changing.

The College began in 1900 as a single bed clinic under the inspired leadership of Dr Ida Sophia Scudder, who was from a family of second-generation American missionaries to India.

This not-for-profit educational and research institute is now a leading provider of health science education in India and its strong reputation helps draw patients from as far as Kolkata in north east India, which is a two-day rail journey away from the Medical College.

Prasath at work in the School of Physiotherapy Balance clinic

Health Volunteers Overseas

The Christian Medical College in Vellore has 2250 beds for inpatients and the scale of the work could be daunting.

Prasath helped with the treatment of up to 50 inpatients and outpatients each day. The experience awakened him to the pressing need for improved treatment and rehabilitation outcomes for those suffering from the effects of loss of mobility due to amputation.

Each year the College hosts visitors from the Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) programme from Washington DC.

This programme sends individual practitioners to out of the way locations so that they travel and work with clinicians in specialist areas (such as mobility) sharing ideas and bringing new perspectives. When a visiting physiotherapist mentioned academic opportunities in Australasia, Prasath was prompted to contact the School of Physiotherapy at Otago. Prasath had not given up on his desire to add depth to his research and investigative work and he knew that Otago had a good reputation.

He had been following the research of Dr Gill Johnson in the rehabilitation of patients with lower limb amputations.

Intensive research ongoing

Prasath completed his doctoral studies in 2012 on postural balance in lower limb amputations.

As a researcher, he seeks to deepen current understandings of how the human brain controls movement and the neurophysiology behind these processes. Prior efforts in this area have shown that sensory deficits affect the relearning of balance for those adapting to life with prostheses.

He tells us of his growing interest in human and technical control mechanisms behind a new generation of prosthetic limbs. While the genesis of much of Prasath's work carries with it stories of personal travails, the science of prosthetic limb replacement continues to offer many patients real hope for a better quality of life.

In 2019 he was awarded an Emerging Researcher First Grant from the Health Research Council in New Zealand which he will apply to the investigation of balance control in children with strabismus or misalignment of the eyes.

As a physiotherapist and researcher actively engaged in the field of prosthetics and neurophysiology, Prasath Jayakaran brings invaluable international experience to the School of Physiotherapy at Otago.