Kirsty Van Stormbroek

Kirsty van Stormbroek is a South African occupational therapist and clinician-researcher committed to expanding access to quality health care in underserved communities. Her work focuses on strengthening the capacity of health professionals working in resource-constrained and rural settings. Her clinical expertise lies in hand-injury care and hand rehabilitation. Recognizing that the human hand is often an individual’s primary “earning tool,” particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), Kirsty is passionate about improving access to essential hand therapy services to help individuals sustain their livelihoods. Kirsty co-leads an open-access hand therapy education initiative, Open Hand Therapy, which provides freely available educational resources to support therapists globally. She is currently piloting an online capacity-strengthening programme for therapists in rural and remote areas of South Africa, using virtual communities of practice to enhance skills development, peer support, and knowledge exchange. She holds a postdoctoral research scholarship while continuing part-time clinical practice in a hand surgery and therapy unit. Through her combined clinical and research roles, Kirsty is establishing herself as a clinician-researcher dedicated to strengthening the link between research and practice in South Africa’s health care system.