Professor Heleen van Aswegen is a Personal Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of the Witwatersrand. She worked as a clinical physiotherapist for 10 years in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Heleen joined the Wits Physiotherapy department in 2002 where she teaches cardiopulmonary physiotherapy at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and co-ordinates the research and postgraduate studies programme for the department. Heleen’s research interest are in the fields of critical care and trauma.

Professor van Aswegen has more than 70 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and been an invited speaker at several national and international critical care, trauma and physiotherapy congresses, and collaborates in research with colleagues from Sweden, Australia and the United Kingdom. Heleen is editor of the book ‘Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy in Trauma: An Evidence-based Approach’ (2nd edition) published by World Scientific in 2024. Her podcast series Physiotherapy Trauma Talks launched in January 2025.