Dr. Emma Stokes

Emma Stokes, PhD, PT, is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and was appointed Vice President for Global Engagement in 2021.

She qualified as a physiotherapist in 1990 and has been an educator for over two decades. In 2018, she moved to Qatar to establish the academic Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Science at Qatar University, leading an international team that developed an innovative, future-oriented curriculum for the country’s first program educating physical therapists — a program recently accredited by World Physiotherapy.

From 2015 to 2023, she served as President of World Physiotherapy, working closely with the staff, board, and global physiotherapy community to lead a transformation of the organization. With a small group of committed colleagues, she was instrumental in founding the Global Rehabilitation Alliance and served on the Steering Committee of the WHO World Rehabilitation Alliance, launched in 2023. She has taught and lectured in over 40 countries.

She has significant governance experience, having served on national and international boards in education, health, research, and regulation.