Our people

Dr Shreya McLeod

Senior Lecturer
Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Allied Health

Area of expertise: sport related concussion, injury prevention, rehabilitation, female athletes, contact/ collision sports, video analysis

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: Full

Phone: +61 7 3861 6467

Email: [email protected]

Location: ACU Brisbane

ORCID: 0000-0003-1413-4133

Shreya is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Physiotherapy and the Course Coordinator for the Master of Sports and Exercise Physiotherapy program at ACU's Brisbane Campus. She is a dual Titled Musculoskeletal and Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist and has worked clinically for over 20 years. She has a research interest in injury risk reduction and concussion identification and management in the contact and collision codes, and works closely with international researchers in the UK, Ireland, USA and Canada.

Select Research Papers

• Bullock, G.S., Räisänen, A.M, Martin,C., Martin,M., et al., McLeod,S......and Emery, C.A. (2025) Prevention strategies for lower extremity injury: A systematic review and meta-analyses for the Female, woman and girl Athlete Injury Prevention (FAIR) consensus. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Jul 11:bjsports-2025-109910. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2025-109910. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40645751.

• Whittaker, J.L., Räisänen, A.M., Bizzini, M., et al., McLeod, S.....and Emery, C.A. (2025) Modifiable risk factors for lower-extremity injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis for the Female, woman and girl Athlete Injury pRevention (FAIR) consensus. Br J Sports Med. Sep 4:bjsports-2025-109902. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2025-109902. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40908104.

• McLeod, S., Terry, D.P., Iverson, G.L.I. and Gardner, A.J. (2025) Video review and clinical screening of suspected and medically diagnosed concussion in the National Rugby League Women's Premiership. Sports Medicine - Open. 2025 Dec 29;11(1):164.

• Mcleod, S., Terry, D.P., Gardner, A.J. and Iverson, G.L. (2024). Interpreting change on the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-5th Edition (SCAT5) in National Rugby League Women's players. Sports Medicine - Open. Doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4493382/v1 (in review).

• Gardner, A.J., Iverson, G.L., Bloomfield, P., Flahive, S., Brown, J., Edwards, S., Fuller, G.W., Ghajari, M., Jhala, P., Jones, B., Levi, C.R., McLeod, S. et al. 2024. Studying Contact Replays: Investigating Mechanisms, Management and Game Exposures (SCRIMMAGE) for brain health in the Australasian National Rugby League: a protocol for a database design. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 10(4), p.e002216.

• Woodward, J. Petrie, F., Mcleod,S., West, S., Salmon, D., Shill, I. et al. (2024) Falling and Landing Supplement (FLS): A consensus on a novel falling and landing video analysis framework for use across rugby codes. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine (in review)

• Reid SA, Farbenblum J, McLeod S. (2022) Do physical interventions improve outcomes following concussion: a systematic review and meta-analysis? British Journal of Sports Medicine; 56(5):292-298. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-103470

Projects

• Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia; Concussion Incidence and Severity with Gamegear Nodal Impact Attenuation Headgear: A Multistate, Multimodal Study in Australian Football, Rugby League and Rugby Union: (Category 3 Funding: 2025-2027)
• Instrumented mouthguard trial - A collaborative project |NRL 2024 (HERDC Cat 3: ongoing; ACU SPRINT)
• Understanding head acceleration events using instrumented mouthguards in registered amateur boxers: A pilot study |ACU FHS Grant Project code: 2024-3810H (ongoing: ACU SPRINT)
• NRL Training Loads Project | ACU Project code: 2024-3927E (ongoing: ACU SPRINT)

Awards and Accolades

• $10000 Top up HDR Support Funds Round School of Medicine and Public Health: PhD Medicine | 2023
• $5000 Additional HDR Support Funds Round School of Medicine and Public Health: PhD Medicine | 2022
• Highly Commended Higher Degree Research Confirmation Award School of Medicine and Public Health: PhD Medicine | 2021

Current and prior consultancy roles

• Member of the Concussion Advisory Committee to the Australian Physiotherapy Association
• Prep to Play Workshop Facilitator (in collaboration with La Trobe University)

Public engagements

• McLeod, S. ABC Gold Coast Radio Interview: World Rugby using flashing mouth guards to indicate heavy collisions when the women's World Cup kicks off this weekend | ABC Radio | 2025
• McLeod, S. All in the mind podcast - Concussion | ABC Radio | 2023
• Chatfield, K. Why female concussion is in the spotlight. The conversation is evolving | 2023
• McLeod, S. Concussion in Women's Sport- FIFA World Cup| ABC Radio Newcastle Interview with Paul Turton | 2023
• McLeod, S. & Peek, K. Do women soccer players have more concussions? This world cup and beyond, here's how to keep our players safe | The Conversation | 2023
• McLeod, S. Tripe R FM. 20 PhDs in 20 minutes. | 2023
• Whaley, P. Female rugby league players more susceptible to concussion than men, concussion study finds | CODE Sports | 2023
• McLeod, S. & Donnelly, J. Sports concussions affect men and women differently. Female athletes need more attention in brain research | The Conversation | May 2021
• McLeod, S. & Konstantopoulos, M. The Concussion Conversation: addressing medical inequality | Siren Sport | 2021
• McLeod, S. Concussion in women's sport| Rise in Women's Sport Edition | Sport & Exercise Physiotherapy Australia | Dec 2021
• O'Halloran, K. AFLW's Kirsten McLeod wants to raise awareness about the ongoing symptoms of concussion| ABC Sport | 2022
• McLeod, S. Sport related Concussion: Focus on female athletes | Sport Health | 2022
• Currill, M. Ballarat's female athletes to get free headgear in soccer's concussion push | The Courier | Apr 2022