Nikki Petty qualified as a Chartered Physiotherapist from Newcastle Polytechnic in 1979. She completed a Graduate Diploma in Manipulative Therapy in Melbourne Australia and later completed a research dissertation to gain MSc from Coventry University. She is currently Principal Lecturer at the School of Health Professions, University of Brighton. She teaches neuromusculoskeletal physiotherapy at undergraduate and postgraduate level and is programme leader for the Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Care. She has written two successful textbooks on neuromusculoskeletal examination and assessment, and neuromusculoskeletal treatment and management. She has a number of research publications. She is on the international advisory board of Manual Therapy, an international journal of musculoskeletal therapy and has served on the advisory board of the Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy. She acts as a reviewer for both peer reviewed journals. She has presented widely at conferences in the UK and abroad, with several as an invited speaker. She has been a member of the MACP Executive Committee, and was Chair and founder member of the MACP Committee for Education and Approval. She completed a professional doctorate in physiotherapy in January 2009; her thesis was entitled ‘towards clinical expertise: learning transitions of neuromusculoskeletal physiotherapists’.