Natascha Plani qualified as a physiotherapist from the University of Pretoria in 1994. She worked at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital after qualifying, in the medical and surgical units, before entering into private practice in Alberton, Gauteng in 1995.

Natascha has a special interest in critical care and traumatology, and completed her Master’s degree in Physiotherapy in the field of cardiorespiratory and traumatology physiotherapy in 2010, from the University of Witwatersrand.

She is a member of the Trauma Society of South Africa, as well as the Critical Care Society of South Africa, and was for many years a member of the Cardiorespiratory Rehabilitation Group of the South African Society of Physiotherapy, including being their Chair and treasurer. She also represented South Africa on the World Confederation of Physical Therapists (WCPT) Africa region, as well as serving as an Executive member and treasurer of the International Confederation of Cardiorespiratory Physical Therapists (ICCrPT).

She is a post-graduate lecturer in cardiorespiratory physiotherapy, particularly critical care, has reviewed abstracts and articles for publication and presentation in the cardiorespiratory field and has examined students at under and post-graduate level for the University of the Witwatersrand.

She has been a speaker at multiple local and international congresses and symposiums, authored a number of papers and also wrote a chapter for the Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy in Trauma textbook, of which the second edition has recently been released.

Research interests include early mobilisation in the critically ill, proning, trauma follow-up clinics and minimum clinical standards for physiotherapists working in intensive care,as well as muscle wasting mechanisms in critical illness.