David Moulaee Conradsson

David Moulaee Conradsson

Senior Lecturer | Docent
Telephone: +46852486614
Visiting address: Alfred Nobels allé 23, 14183 Huddinge
Postal address: H1 Neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle, H1 Fysioterapi Moulaee-Conradsson, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • I am a registered physiotherapist and senior lecturer (associate professor) at the Division of Physiotherapy, Karolinska Institutet. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy from Karolinska Institutet in 2008, followed by a Master’s in Medical Science in 2012 and a PhD in Medical Sciences in 2016. My doctoral research focused on balance control in older adults with Parkinson’s disease, exploring the effects of medication and exercise. After completing my PhD, I undertook postdoctoral training at McGill University’s Human Brain Control of Locomotion Lab in Montreal, Canada.

    My clinical and research interests center on rehabilitation and health promotion interventions, with a particular emphasis on physical activity and secondary prevention services for people living with neurological diseases. I conduct both experimental and interventional studies in these areas. In addition to my academic role, I hold a clinical position as a physiotherapist at Karolinska University Hospital and contribute to the operational team of the uMOVE core facility at Karolinska Institutet.

    I am the research group leader for REACH – digital treatment and prevention

Research

  • My research focuses on health promotion and targeted secondary prevention strategies for individuals with neurological conditions such as stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), Parkinson’s disease, and spinal cord injury. Specifically, I investigate tailored physical exercise interventions and technology-enhanced strategies to support long-term physical activity.

    A key area of my work is the development of individualized mobile health (mHealth) interventions designed to promote physical activity after stroke or TIA. The goals of this research program include:

    • Collaborating with key stakeholders to develop accessible and individually tailored mHealth services for physical activity promotion.
    • Evaluating the feasibility and efficacy of new mHealth interventions through multi-center clinical trials.
    • Conducting patient registry-based assessments to determine the long-term impact and cost-effectiveness of mHealth interventions.

    I am also actively engaged in global health research, particularly in understanding rehabilitation outcomes across diverse healthcare settings. This includes collaboration with Associate Professor Conran Joseph (Stellenbosch University) on the project Health Systems for Stroke and Spinal Cord Injury in Sweden and South Africa – A Public Health Perspective on Research and Education. This initiative aims to compare healthcare processes and long-term outcomes for stroke and spinal cord injury in South Africa and Sweden, contributing to improved rehabilitation services globally.

Teaching

  • I have a strong interest in education and actively engage in teaching and supervising students at the bachelor's, master's, and PhD levels. My teaching expertise lies in digital physiotherapy, methods for assessing physical activity, and interventions to promote physical activity among individuals with neurological diseases or injuries.

    I serve as the course leader for the advanced-level course Remote Physiotherapy – A Physiotherapeutic Perspective (7.5 hp), which equips physiotherapists with the skills to evaluate and treat patients remotely using digital tools. Additionally, I have extensive experience teaching clinical and objective measurement tools for assessing movement quality and physical activity. My responsibilities include course coordination and development, lecturing, leading practical seminars, and serving as an examiner and moderator.

    In the context of global health, I am committed to internationalizing education to enhance its quality and inclusivity. Through collaboration with Stellenbosch University, we are working to define universal learning outcomes and develop teaching strategies that promote cultural sensitivity and address global health challenges.

Selected publications

Articles

All other publications

Selected grants

Grants

  • Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation
    1 January 2026 - 31 December 2028
    Background: The prevalence of stroke-related disability is expected to rise globally, significantly impacting families, healthcare systems, and economies. Although strong evidence supports the role of physical activity (PA) in improving health and preventing complications after stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), access to support for PA remains limited. When available, such support is often short-term and lacks the long-term personalization needed to sustain behavior change. Objective: This project investigates whether a personalized digital intervention (REACH) can enhance PA and health while reducing secondary complications in individuals post stroke or TIA. The specific objectives are to determine whether the REACH intervention: - Improves PA, physical functioning, well-being, and quality of life immediately after the intervention. - Reduces post-stroke complications and healthcare utilization for up to 5 years post-baseline. - Is cost-effective compared to standard care. We hypothesize that the REACH intervention will improve PA, functioning, well-being, and quality of life
    reduce the incidence of recurrent stroke, comorbidities, mortality, and healthcare utilization
    and be cost-effective, supporting large-scale implementation. Work Plan: In a multicenter Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial, 371 individuals post-stroke/TIA no longer receiving rehabilitation and with low PA will be randomized to one of two groups: - REACH, a 12-month mHealth intervention incorporating adaptive, personalized treatment trajectories, with physiotherapist-led support for exercise and self-management of PA. - Standard care, without active intervention. Recruitment and trial implementation will be conducted through an established clinical network across 5 Swedish regions. The primary outcome is steps per day, assessed via accelerometry immediately post-intervention. Stroke recurrence, comorbidity, mortality, and healthcare utilization will be tracked for up to 5 years using registry data. Cost-effectiveness will be evaluated through both within-trial and model-based economic analyses. Significance: If REACH improves PA and reduces the risk of secondary complications, it would represent a breakthrough in secondary stroke prevention, offering profound benefits for individuals, healthcare systems, and society. The cost-effectiveness analysis, combined with a scalable digital intervention model, will support national implementation.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2025 - 31 December 2026
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2026
    Life means combining motor-cognitive skills, e.g., walking, talking and navigating. Aging or neurological diseases, e.g., Parkinson’s disease (PD) compromises these skills needed for an independent life. It is uncertain which brain alterations lead to these difficulties and how to target these heterogenous motor-cognitive difficulties. Current treatments apply a "one-size-fits-all" approach, which needs to evolve towards personalized rehabilitation, reaching beyond a simple adaption to disease severity.Our multimodal project combines physiotherapy, neurology, psychology and neuroimaging to characterize motor-cognitive skills during complex walking, identify underlying brain alterations and subtype PD to inform a novel exercise approach for people with PD. This 5 years proposal has 4 stages: 1) Exploring brain alterations and links to the motor-cognitive skills in healthy and PD 2) PD subtyping using neuroimaging, motor, cognitive and clinical data 3) Characterization of exercise responsiveness in PD and 4) Development and testing of a personalized motor-cognitive exercise program. We combine novel techniques for data collection with in-depth analysis of existing data (EXPANd trial). The results will have an immediate application and clinical relevance for personalized rehabilitation in older and PD. There is no cure for PD yet, thus positive findings would revolutionize treatment, giving new hope to patients for a life with improved health, independence and higher quality.
  • VINNOVA
    14 June 2021 - 30 April 2023
  • Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé
    1 April 2018 - 31 March 2019
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
    1 April 2017 - 31 March 2018
  • Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé
    1 April 2016 - 31 March 2018

Employments

  • Senior Lecturer, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 2019-2024
  • Lecturer, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 2016-2024

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2021
  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 2016
  • Degree Of Master Of Medical Science 60 Credits, Karolinska Institutet, 2014
  • Degree Of Bachelor Of Science In Physiotherapy, Karolinska Institutet, 2008

Supervision

  • Supervision to doctoral degree

    • Lisa Sandberg, Physical activity in people with Parkinson’s disease –risk factors, exercise effects and connections to brain function, 2023-
    • Alexander Kvist, Evaluating complex walking in aging and neurological disease: from motor behavior to brain activity, 2021-

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