Professor Rob Herbert initially trained as a physiotherapist. Rob has an interest in clinical research and conducts randomised trials investigating the effects of physical interventions for motor impairment. He was a founding Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Physiotherapy, which maintains the PEDro database (www.pedro.org.au), a unique database of randomised trials, systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines in physiotherapy.Kare Birger Hagen is Director, Reviews and Health Technology Assessment at the Norweigen Institute of Public Health, Oslo Norway.