• PhD Candidate, School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney
• Centre for Pain IMPACT, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA)

• 2025–Present: PhD Candidate in Psychology, UNSW Sydney
• 2024: Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Neuroscience
• 2022: Bachelor of Exercise Physiology 

Lara Alexander is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and PhD candidate at the NeuroRecovery Research Hub within the School of Psychology at the University of New South Wales. Her research focuses on the development and evaluation of interdisciplinary interventions that combine physical and psychological approaches to improve outcomes for individuals living with chronic low back pain. 

Drawing on her clinical background in exercise physiology, Lara investigates how movement-based rehabilitation and evidence-based psychological strategies can be integrated to address the complex interaction between physical function, emotion regulation and persistent pain. 

As part of her doctoral research, she is integrating movement-based therapy into Pain and Emotion Therapy, an intervention developed by Dr Norman-Nott and the NeuroRecovery Research Team. This work involves incorporating movement-based education and therapeutic exercise into the program to support individuals with chronic low back pain in understanding the relationship between pain, movement, and emotional processes, whilst facilitating the gradual restoration of functional movement and activity.

• Integrated Rehabilitation for Chronic Pain
• Digital Delivery of Chronic Pain Interventions
• Neurobehavioural Mechanisms of Chronic Pain
• Pain and Emotion Regulation
• Clinical Trials and Translation