Gisela Sole

Gisela Sole is a South African–New Zealand academic physiotherapist, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in sports injuries and management of musculoskeletal conditions.

Academic career
Sole completed a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy at Stellenbosch University, and a Master of Science in Medicine at the University of Cape Town. She became interested in anterior cruciate ligament research when she was working in a South African hospital, and saw that conservative treatment often led to loss of function for knee extension. Sole also worked as a clinician in Switzerland. Sole completed a PhD titled Neuromuscular control of thigh and gluteal muscles following hamstring injuries at the University of Otago. Sole joined the faculty of the university, rising to full professor in 2023, and is the deputy dean of the School of Physiotherapy.

Sole is interested in mechanisms of injury and rehabilitation, but also how people are affected by their injury, pain and rehabilitation experiences. She has researched patient experiences of rehabilitation, the long-term effects such as fear of re-injury, and has examined conditions such as rotator cuff related shoulder pain and anterior cruciate ligament injury. She co-leads a team that is developing a framework for managing concussions in secondary schools. In 2023 Sole was part of a team awarded a Health Research Council of New Zealand grant to research a stepped care model for people with persistent shoulder pain. Her team's work on shoulder health won the Champion Project of Pain@Otago award in 2021.