Fields of Research

Rheumatology and arthritis
Epidemiology
Physiotherapy
Geriatrics and gerontology
Aged health care
Pain
Orthopaedics
Health promotion
Primary health care
Podiatry
Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine
Health counselling
Health and community services
Sports science and exercise
Zoology
Nutritional epidemiology
Autonomic nervous system
Multimorbidity
Public health nutrition
Behavioural epidemiology
Nutritional science
Medical biotechnology diagnostics (incl. biosensors)
Health services and systems
Health economics
Clinical sciences
Sports medicine
Implementation science and evaluation
Endocrinology
Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Biomechanics
Health equity
Cellular immunology
Solid tumours
Medical biochemistry - lipids
Allied health and rehabilitation science
Exercise physiology
Rehabilitation

Research Objectives

Clinical health
Treatment of human diseases and conditions
Diagnosis of human diseases and conditions
Health related to ageing
Efficacy of medications
Allied health therapies (excl. mental health services)
Human pain management
Determinants of health
Evaluation of health outcomes
Health education and promotion
Behaviour and health
Primary care
Public health (excl. specific population health)
Preventive medicine
Health system performance (incl. effectiveness of programs)
Prevention of human diseases and conditions
Nutrition
Overweight and obesity
Disability and functional capacity
Community health care
Expanding knowledge in the health sciences
Teaching and curriculum

Career Best Publications

A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial of HUMira (adalimumab) for erosive hand OsteoaRthritis - the HUMOR trial; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Effect of intravenous zoledronic acid on tibiofemoral cartilage volume among patients with knee osteoarthritis with bone marrow lesions: a randomized clinical trial; JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
Effect of Zoledronic Acid and Denosumab in patients with low back pain and modic change: A proof-of-principle trial; Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
Effectiveness of Curcuma longa extract for the treatment of symptoms and effusion-synovitis of knee osteoarthritis : a randomized trial; Annals of Internal Medicine
Longitudinal associations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D, physical activity, and knee pain and dysfunction with muscle loss in community-dwelling older adults; Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
The association between ambulatory activity, body composition and hip or knee joint replacement due to osteoarthritis: a prospective cohort study; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
The association between objectively measured physical activity and knee structural change using MRI; Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Zoledronic acid reduces knee pain and bone marrow lesions over 1 year: a randomised controlled trial; Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases

Research Publications

A family history of knee joint replacement increases the progression of knee radiographic osteoarthritis and medial tibial cartilage volume loss over 10 years; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
A longitudinal study of the association between dietary factors, serum lipids, and bone marrow lesions of the knee; Arthritis Research & Therapy
A pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating outdoor community walking for knee osteoarthritis: walk; Clinical rheumatology
A pilot study of the reproducibility and validity of measuring knee subchondral bone density in the tibia; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
A population-based study of the association between hip bone marrow lesions, high cartilage signal, and hip and knee pain; Clinical Rheumatology
A protocol for a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to compare the effect of annual infusions of zoledronic acid to placebo on knee structural change and knee pain over 24 months in knee osteoarthritis patients - ZAP2; BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
A Randomised Controlled Trial of YOGa and Strengthening Exercise for Knee OsteoArthritis: Protocol for a Comparative Effectiveness Trial (YOGA Trial); Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology
A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial of HUMira (adalimumab) for erosive hand OsteoaRthritis - the HUMOR trial; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
A systematic review and meta-analysis of health state utility values for osteoarthritis-related conditions; Arthritis Care & Research
A systematic review of the evolution of health-economic evaluation models of osteoarthritis; Arthritis Care & Research
Accelerometer-determined physical activity, muscle mass, and leg strength in community-dwelling older adults; Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
Activation of the phosphatidylcholine to lysophosphatidylcholine pathway is associated with osteoarthritis knee cartilage volume loss over time; Scientific Reports
Ambulatory activity interacts with common risk factors for osteoarthritis to modify increases in MRI-detected osteophytes; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Association between hip and knee cartilage measured using radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging: the Tasmanian Older Adult Cohort Study; Rheumatology
Association between quantitatively measured infrapatellar fat pad high signal intensity alteration and MRI-assessed progression of knee osteoarthritis; Arthritis Care & Research
Association between radiographic hand osteoarthritis and bone microarchitecture in a population-based sample; Arthritis Research and Therapy
Associations between socioeconomic status and obesity, sarcopenia, and sarcopenic obesity in community-dwelling older adults: The Tasmanian Older Adult Cohort Study; Experimental Gerontology
Bone marrow lesions predict site-specific cartilage defect development and volume loss: a prospective study in older adults; Arthritis Research & Therapy
Boswellia for osteoarthritis (Protocol); Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Characterizing and validating the phenotype of knee pain: a latent class analysis
Clinical overview of osteoarthritis (OA) and the challenges faced for future management
Clinical relevance of MRI knee abnormalities in Australian rules football players: a longitudinal study; BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine
Comparison of radiographic and MRI osteoarthritis definitions and their combination for prediction of tibial cartilage loss, knee symptoms and total knee replacement: a longitudinal study; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Constitutive melanin density is associated with higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D and potentially total body BMD in older Caucasian adults via increased sun tolerance and exposure; Osteoporosis International
Constitutive melanin density is associated with prevalent and short-term, but not long-term, incident fracture risk in older Caucasian adults; Osteoporosis International
Correlates of Hip Cartilage Defects: A Cross-sectional Study in Older Adults; Journal of Rheumatology
Correlates of Subchondral BMD: A Cross-Sectional Study; Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
Correlation between changes in global knee structures assessed on Magnetic Resonance Imaging and radiographic osteoarthritis changes over 10 years in a mid-life cohort; Arthritis Care & Research
Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between systemic, subchondral bone mineral density and knee cartilage thickness in older adults with or without radiographic osteoarthritis; Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases: The Euler Journal
Cross-sectional and temporal differences in health-related quality of life of people with and without osteoarthritis: a 10-year prospective study; Rheumatology
Depression in patients with knee osteoarthritis: risk factors and associations with joint symptoms; BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
Differentiating knee pain phenotypes in older adults: a prospective cohort study; Rheumatology
Do older adults with low muscle mass or strength, in the presence of obesity, have an increased risk of joint replacement over 13 Years?; Calcified Tissue International
Does cartilage volume measurement or radiographic osteoarthritis at baseline independently predict ten-year cartilage volume loss?; BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
Effect of Curcuma longa extract on serum inflammatory markers and MRI-based synovitis in knee osteoarthritis: secondary analyses from the CurKOA randomised trial; Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology
Effect of intravenous zoledronic acid on tibiofemoral cartilage volume among patients with knee osteoarthritis with bone marrow lesions: a randomized clinical trial; JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
Effect of vitamin D supplementation on depressive symptoms in patients with knee osteoarthritis; Journal of The American Medical Directors Association
Effect of Zoledronic Acid and Denosumab in patients with low back pain and modic change: A proof-of-principle trial; Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
Effect of zoledronic acid with or without methylprednisolone on 3D bone area and bone shape in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: A post-hoc analysis of the ZAP2 trial; Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism
Effectiveness of Curcuma longa extract for the treatment of symptoms and effusion-synovitis of knee osteoarthritis : a randomized trial; Annals of Internal Medicine
Factors associated with physical activity promotion by allied and other non-medical health professionals: a systematic review; Patient Education and Counseling
Feasibility of ‘parkrun’ for people with knee osteoarthritis: A mixed methods pilot study; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open
Fish oil in knee osteoarthritis: a randomised clinical trial of low dose versus high dose; Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Hand examination, ultrasound and its association with hand pain and function in community-based older adults; Arthritis Care & Research
Higher serum levels of resistin are associated with knee synovitis and structural abnormalities in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis; Journal of the American Medical Directors Association
Hip shape as a predictor of osteoarthritis progression in a prospective population cohort; Arthritis Care & Research
History of knee injury and MRI-assessed knee structures in middle- and older-aged adults: a cross-sectional study; Clinical Rheumatology
How do MRI-detected subchondral bone marrow lesions (BMLs) on two different MRI sequences correlate with clinically important outcomes?; Calcified Tissue International
Hypointense signals in the infrapatellar fat pad assessed by magnetic resonance imaging are associated with knee symptoms and structure in older adults: a cohort study; Arthritis Research & Therapy
Identifying subgroups of community-dwelling older adults and their prospective associations with long-term knee osteoarthritis outcomes; Clinical Rheumatology
Incidence and predictors of fractures in older adults with and without obesity defined by body mass index versus body fat percentage; Bone
Infrapatellar fat pad in the knee: Is local fat good or bad for knee osteoarthritis?; Arthritis Research & Therapy
Interventions to improve adherence to exercise for chronic musculoskeletal pain in adults; Australian Family Physician
Knee function, pain and magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities in Australian Rules Football players: a cohort study
Light physical activity is positively associated with cognitive performance in older community dwelling adults; Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
Linear and nonlinear associations between physical activity, body composition, and multimorbidity over 10 years among community-dwelling older adults ; Journals of Gerontology. Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
Longitudinal associations between dietary inflammatory index and musculoskeletal health in community-dwelling older adults; Clinical Nutrition
Longitudinal associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, physical activity, knee pain and dysfunction and physiological falls risk in community-dwelling older adults; Experimental Gerontology
Longitudinal associations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D, physical activity, and knee pain and dysfunction with muscle loss in community-dwelling older adults; Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
Longitudinal study of the relationship between physical activity and knee pain and functional limitation in community-dwelling older adults; Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
Lysophosphatidylcholines to phosphatidylcholines ratio predicts advanced knee osteoarthritis; Rheumatology
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-assessed knee abnormalities in Australian rules football players – AFL tas knee study
Maintaining vitamin D sufficiency is associated with improved structural and symptomatic outcomes in knee osteoarthritis; American Journal of Medicine
Metabolomic signatures for the longitudinal reduction of muscle strength over 10 years; Skeletal Muscle
Natural history and clinical significance of meniscal tears over 8 years in a midlife cohort; BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
Natural history and clinical significance of MRI-detected bone marrow lesions at the knee: a prospective study in community dwelling older adults; Arthritis Research & Therapy
Natural history of areal bone marrow lesions; Osteoarthritis Research Society International
Navigating the maze of osteoarthritis treatment: A qualitative study exploring the experience of individuals with osteoarthritis in Tasmania, Australia; Musculoskeletal Care
Once-yearly zoledronic acid and change in abdominal aortic calcification over 3 years in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis: results from the HORIZON Pivotal Fracture Trial; Osteoporosis International
Operational definitions of sarcopenia and their associations with 5-year changes in falls risk in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults; Osteoporosis International
Osteoarthritis bone marrow lesions at the knee and large artery characteristics; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Pain at multiple sites is associated with prevalent and incident fractures in older adults; Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
Pain at multiple sites is associated with prevalent and incident fractures in older adults: a 5.1-year follow-up study; ASBMR Annual Meeting 2018
Patellar tendon enthesis abnormalities and their association with knee pain and structural abnormalities in older adults; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Physical Activity and Osteoarthritis of the Knee: Can MRI Scans Shed More Light on This Issue?; The Physician and Sportsmedicine: A Peer Reviewed Journal of Medical Aspects of Sports, Exercise and Fitness
Population Vitamin D Stores Are Increasing in Tasmania, and This Is Associated with Less BMD Loss over 10 Years; Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
Predictors of Beagley-Gibson skin cast grade in older adults; Skin Research and Technology
Predictors of pain severity trajectory in older adults: a 10.7-year follow-up study; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Prospective associations of low muscle mass and function with 10-year falls risk, incident fracture and mortality in community-dwelling older adults; Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging
Prospective associations of low muscle mass and strength with health-related quality of life over 10-year in community-dwelling older adults; Experimental Gerontology
Prospective associations of osteosarcopenia and osteodynapenia with incident fracture and mortality over 10 years in community-dwelling older adults; Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
Quantification of hip effusion-synovitis and its cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with hip pain, MRI findings and early radiographic hip OA; BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
Reply Letter to the Editor: Knee joint replacement and individual susceptibility for progression of knee osteoarthritis and tibial cartilage volume loss: not only genes run in the family; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage: Journal of The Osteoarthritis Research Society International
Reply to letter by Hayashi et al. commenting on choice of pulse sequences for MRI based semi-quantitative assessment of cartilage defects ; Arthritis & Rheumatism
Responsiveness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging-derived Measures Over 2.7 Years; Journal of Rheumatology
Restricting branched-chain amino acids within a high-fat diet prevents obesity; Metabolites
Sarcopenic obesity and dynapenic obesity: 5-year associations with falls risk in middle-aged and older adults; Obesity: a research journal
Serum Metabolomic Signatures for Knee Cartilage Volume Loss over 10 Years in Community-Dwelling Older Adults; Life
Signal intensity alteration in the infrapatellar fat pad at baseline for the prediction of knee symptoms and structure in older adults: a cohort study; ARD Online
Single nucleotide polymorphism genes and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups as biomarkers for early prediction of knee osteoarthritis structural progressors: use of supervised machine learning classifiers; BMC Medicine
Skin photosensitivity is associated with 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and BMD but not fractures independent of melanin density in older caucasian adults; Calcified Tissue International
Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of diacerein versus placebo to treat knee osteoarthritis with effusion-synovitis (DICKENS); Trials
Subchondral Bone and Cartilage Damage - A Prospective Study in Older Adults; Arthritis and Rheumatism
The association between ambulatory activity, body composition and hip or knee joint replacement due to osteoarthritis: a prospective cohort study; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
The association between change in bone marrow lesion size and change in tibiofemoral cartilage volume and knee symptoms; Rheumatology
The association between hip bone marrow lesions and bone mineral density: a cross-sectional and longitudinal population-based study; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
The Association Between Hip Muscle Cross-Sectional Area, Muscle Strength, and Bone Mineral Density; Calcified Tissue International
The association between leptin, interleukin-6, and hip radiographic osteoarthritis in older people: a cross-sectional study; Arthritis Research & Therapy
The association between objectively measured physical activity and knee structural change using MRI; Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
The association between physical activity and reduced body fat lessens with age - Results from a cross-sectional study in community-dwelling older adults; Experimental Gerontology
The association between socioeconomic status and joint replacement of the hip and knee: a population-based cohort study of older adults in Tasmania; Internal Medicine Journal
The association of knee structural pathology with pain at the knee is modified by pain at other sites in those with knee osteoarthritis; Clinical Rheumatology
The association of subchondral and systemic bone mineral density with osteoarthritis-related joint replacements in older adults; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
The clinical significance, natural history and predictors of bone marrow lesion change over eight years; Arthritis Research & Therapy
The cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of dietary patterns with knee symptoms and MRI detected structure in patients with knee osteoarthritis; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage: Journal of The Osteoarthritis Research Society International
The effect of weight loss on the progression of meniscal extrusion and size in knee osteoarthritis: a post-hoc analysis of the Intensive Diet and Exercise for Arthritis (IDEA) trial; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
The impact of comorbidities on health-related quality of life of people with osteoarthritis over 10 years; Rheumatology
The optimal dosage regimen of vitamin D supplementation for correcting deficiency in adolescents: a pilot randomized controlled trial; European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
The relationship between cumulative lifetime ultraviolet radiation exposure, bone mineral density, falls risk and fractures in older adults; Osteoporosis International
The relationship between objectively assessed physical activity and bone health in older adults differs by sex and is mediated by lean mass; Osteoporosis International
Understanding the management of osteoarthritis in Australia: a qualitative study of GPs and orthopaedic surgeons in Tasmania, Australia; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open
Vitamin D and physical activity status: Associations with five-year changes in body composition and muscle function in community-dwelling older adults; Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
Vitamin D deficiency in Tasmania: A whole of life perspective; Internal Medicine Journal
Vitamin D supplementation and inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers in patients with knee osteoarthritis: post hoc analysis of a randomised controlled trial; British Journal of Nutrition
Vitamin D supplementation in infants
What factors are associated with physical activity promotion in the podiatry setting? a cross-sectional study; Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
Which factors associate with localized knee pain and generalized pain: A 10-year longitudinal study?; Arthritis & Rheumatology
Which subchondral bone measure is the best predictor of cartilage damage?
Zoledronic acid plus methylprednisolone versus zoledronic acid or placebo in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial; Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease
Zoledronic acid reduces knee pain and bone marrow lesions over 1 year: a randomised controlled trial; Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases

Research Projects

2012: 6th International Workshop on Osteoarthritis Imaging combined with the OARSI OA Biomarkers Workshop II - Imaging Biomarker Validation and Qualification, USA; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
A randomised controlled trial evaluating community walking for knee osteoarthritis; Arthritis Australia (AFA)
A randomised trial of zoledronic acid for osteoarthritis of the knee; National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Achieving the balance between the risks and benefits of cumulative lifetime sun exposure; National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
ACTIVE KNEECAPS! tArgeted effeCTIVE treatments for adolescent KNEECAP pain; Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)
Assessing the Australian osteoarthritis landscape - GPs' surgeons' and patients attitudes towards and understandings of osteoarthritis; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Development of a co-design intervention to increase General Practitioners' referral rates to first-line treatment for knee and hip osteoarthritis; ANZMUSC/ANZBACK CRE (ANZMUSC-ANZBACK)
DICKENS - A randomised controlled trial of DIaCerein to treat KneE osteoarthritis with effusioN-Synovitis; National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Improving musculoskeletal pain by matching the right treatment with the right patient; Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)
Improving musculoskeletal pain by matching the right treatment with the right patient - Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Next Generation Clinical Researchers Program - Career Development Fellowship; American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR)
Improving outcomes in patients with knee osteoarthritis: identifying pain phenotypes with relationships to long-term health outcomes; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Providing high-value care for osteoarthritis patients at the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH); Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation (RHHRF)
Providing high-value care for osteoarthritis patients at the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH); The MPST Foundation Ltd (MPST)
Scientific Exchange to University of California, San Francisco to work on Osteoarthritis Initiative Study (OAI); Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI)
Stem Cells as a symptom- and strUcture-modifying Treatment for knee OsteoaRthritis- the SCUlpTOR trial.; National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Structural predictors of knee replacement surgery; Arthritis Australia (AFA)
Testing new treatments for back pain: a randomised open label pilot study; Tasmanian Community Fund (TasCF)
The effect of krill oil on cartilage composition; Menzies Institute for Medical Research (MIMR)
Unlocking the potential of a novel setting to promote physical activity (PA) among patients with Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) - parkrun; Medibank Better Health Foundation (MBHF)
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to improve understanding of knee osteoarthritis and develop effective therapeutic treatments; National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Vitamin D for correcting deficiency in adolescents: a general practice-based RCT ; Royal Australian College of General Practitioners/Osteoporosis Australia (RACGP/OA)
Donation: TCHI - IMPACT-TAS: Improving access to high-value care for osteoarthritis in Tasmania
Evidence scan on hip fracture and knee osteoarthritis
Evidence scan update on hip fracture and knee osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis research

Research Candidate Supervision

A Controlled Longtitudinal Study of Knee Cartilage Volume in the Offspring of Subjects with Osteoarthritis of the Knee
Hip Structure Assessment Using MRI and Radiographic Assessment of OA, Statistical Analysis and Development of Epidemiological Methods