Research
Collaboration
Shashank collaborates with researchers at the University of Gothenburg on a multicentre randomized controlled trial of the Ronnie Gardiner Method, a music-supported rehabilitation approach for individuals in the late phase of recovery after stroke.
Bio
Shashank Ghai is Associate Professor in Risk and Environmental Studies as of February 2026. Shashank received his Bachelor of Physiotherapy with first division from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, India, in 2013 and worked as a physiotherapist in New Delhi for two years. He then completed a Master of Sport and Leisure Studies at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, in 2016 with first class honours, supported by a New Zealand India Sports Scholarship by Education New Zealand. He earned his Dr. phil. summa cum laude from Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany, in 2019. He spent the following two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy at McGill University, Canada, funded by a Fonds de recherche du Québec Santé postdoctoral fellowship. After a brief period of working as a Scientific Worker at Technische Universität Dresden in 2022, he joined Karlstad University in 2023.
His research spans sensorimotor rehabilitation and fall prevention. He is particularly interested in how multisensory interventions, including auditory stimulation, proprioceptive training, and floor exposure, can improve movement, balance, and fall preparedness in clinical and working-age populations. He is the developer of the floor-hugging intervention, a novel post-fall contingency program for both working-age and fall-predisposed population groups.
Shashank leads a project funded by AFA Försäkring, to evaluate floor hugging as a rehabilitation program for people of working age.
Other
Interviewed for: The New York Times, Can This Tape Really Improve Your Workout?, 2025