Nicole finished her PhD and joined the academic staff at the University of Canberra as a Clinical Assistant Professor (Physiotherapy) in 2014. Since graduating in 1997 from the University of Sydney, Nicole has worked as a physiotherapist in a number of different hospital settings in Australia and the UK such as acute and rehabilitation, public and private, urban and rural, as well as in primary health care. Her background is mainly in rehabilitation, with a more recent focus on cardiac rehabilitation, although she has worked in a number of different rehabilitation areas including pulmonary, amputee, orthopaedic and neurological. Nicole continues to work clinically in an acute hospital setting.

Dr Freene has a strong interest in the primary and secondary prevention of chronic disease and increasing the populations' physical activity levels, particularly in middle-aged adults. This was the focus of her PhD titled 'Physical Activity At Home: Long-term effectiveness of a community group exercise versus physiotherapist-led home-based physical activity program in middle-aged adults'. She is a founding member of the National Physiotherapy for Physical Activity group and a committee member of the Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association of NSW/ACT Professional Development Committee. Nicole supervises both Honours and PhD students. Her current research focuses on increasing physical activity levels and decreasing sedentary behaviour in adults, both in healthy and cardiac populations.