Nathan Skidmore

Nathan Skidmore is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Durham University. His research interests include cancer prehabilitation, health literacy, pain management and education, and XR in health and rehabilitation. He secured funding from the Doctoral Training Alliance to undertake a PhD at Teesside University, where he investigated the feasibility of a virtual reality-based pain science education system to enhance health literacy in individuals with persistent pain. Prior to his early career in research, he undertook training as a musculoskeletal therapist at Teesside University, subsequently working with several professional and semi-professional sports teams and privately with patients presenting various musculoskeletal conditions. Nathan currently collaborates as a research assistant for the European Pain Federation (EFIC), representing the organisation in various European-funded projects spanning topics such as digital health literacy for musculoskeletal conditions and addressing the placebo and nocebo training needs of clinicians across Europe. Nathan also holds several roles in organisations, including serving on the Conference Organising Committee at XR4REHAB since 2023 and being a member of the Education Committee for the British Pain Society since 2024.