Research has always been central to the philosophy of OSV. Our surgeons and research partners have a long and distinguished track record in successful research, culminating in many publications in esteemed scientific journals and presentations at meetings around the world.
The OSV Research Unit was established in 2012 and is now an NHMRC recognised Research Institute. The aim of the partnership was to further develop and improve our research capabilities. We have always recognised the importance of collaboration, which is one of the fundamental principles of our research ethos. As such, we have developed strong links not only with Deakin University but also La Trobe University, the University of Melbourne, and the University of the Sunshine Coast. In doing so, we have created a synergistic relationship, whereby along with our research partners we can study the outcome of surgical treatment using sophisticated technology and translate this information to improve surgical care and rehabilitation for our patients.
Whilst all our surgeons each make a substantial annual financial contribution towards our research endeavours, procuring adequate funding is always a challenge. In addition to applying for competitive national grants, OSV works closely with the Epworth Medical Foundation in fundraising initiatives directed towards the general public. Philanthropy from patients, grateful families, and others who have benefited from our care also goes a long way to allowing us to continue our research work.
We are most grateful for this support.
Check out our OSV Research Unit Facebook page here.
Professor Julian Feller is a knee surgeon and practices as part of OrthoSport Victoria, based at Epworth Richmond in Melbourne, Australia. His practice involves the management of all conditions of the knee, including sports injuries and degenerative conditions. Julian has a long involvement in clinical research and has been involved in many trials and studies, including four randomized controlled trials. His research interests are anterior cruciate ligament injuries and patellar instability, as well as knee replacement and osteotomies.
Julian is currently a Clinical Professor in the School of Medicine at Deakin University and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Allied Health at La Trobe University as well as having an appointment as a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at Monash University.
He has published extensively has more than 150 publications in scientific journals and has written many book chapters. He is a regular speaker at local and international meetings and serves on the editorial boards of AJSM, KSSTA, OJSM, and is a regular reviewer for a number of other journals. He has previously been on the editorial board of Arthroscopy.
Julian is the past president of the international ACL Study Group and of the Australian Knee Society and a past chairman of the Knee Committee of ISAKOS. He is the current Program Chair for ISAKOS.
Brian is an Irish orthopaedic surgeon. He completed his medical school training at University College Dublin, Ireland, and decided to embark on a career in surgery. Brian carried out his specialist training in Trauma & Orthopaedics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
With a view to enhance his understanding of sports medicine beyond orthopaedics, he carried out a Masters in Sports and Exercise Medicine. In addition to his focused orthopaedic training, he undertook two years of laboratory-based translational research and was awarded a professional doctorate through University College Dublin.
Brian chose to pursue a career in academic orthopaedic sports surgery and carried out three years of fellowship training. The first year was a research fellowship at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute, where he performed clinical and biomechanics research in knee reconstruction and hip arthroscopy. He then carried out a clinical fellowship at the University of Toronto from 2013 – 2014 also in sports surgery. Finally, he completed two clinical fellowships in Melbourne, Australia; the first was a knee reconstruction fellowship at OSV and the second a fellowship in hip arthroscopy at Hip Arthroscopy Australia.
Brian is currently undertaking a PhD in association with LaTrobe University and OSV Research Unit. He is responsible for overseeing the research activities at OSV.
Dr Kate Webster is Professor of Allied Health and Head of Department for Sport, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at La Trobe University, Melbourne Australia. She is an internationally recognised expert in orthopaedic and sports medicine research and was named Australia’s Top Researcher in Orthopaedic Medicine and Surgery in 2019 (The Australian). Her personal research interests cover a range of topics pertaining to knee orthopaedics, including surgical techniques and outcomes, biomechanical changes after knee surgery and return to sport issues, with a focus on the psychological impact of returning to sport participation. She was the lead developer of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Return to Sport after Injury (ACL-RSI) scale which has been translated from English to more than 14 languages.
Kate has received several awards for her research including 4 best paper of the year awards from the American Journal of Sports Medicine, Orthopeadic Journal of Sports Medicine and Journal of Orthopaedic Research and has over 250 book chapters and publications. She is a current member of the ACL Study Group and past recipient of their Traveling Scientist Fellowship. She is a member of the Electronic Media Board for the American Journal of Sports Medicine and has appointments for many other advisory boards and international research working groups. She is regularly featured in the media and her research has been highlighted in the New York Times.
Kate is committed to providing high quality research supervision for research students and medical professionals at all levels to foster their development as independent researchers. Many of her students have received awards for their research projects including the top university research prizes as well as national sports medicine awards.
Mr. Tim Whitehead is an Australian and internationally trained orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in all aspects of knee surgery and lower limb alignment, with a specific interest in ligament reconstruction and realignment osteotomies. Since returning from Canada in 2006 following the completion of two highly regarded orthopaedic knee and sports medicine fellowships, Tim’s practice has had a strong focus on research activities. He has published articles in numerous journals and is a reviewer for the American Journal of Sports Medicine, The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery, and Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy. He frequently speaks at national and international conferences, and at the 2011 ISAKOS conference won the Albert Trillat Young Investigator Award for his paper “Double bundle versus single-bundle anterior cruciate reconstruction – is the double-bundle technique really better?”
Tim is a member of a variety of national and international Orthopaedic associations including the Australian Orthopaedic Association, Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association, the international ACL study group, the Magellan Society, and the International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. He is an Australian Ambassador for the Australian chapter of the Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association. In early 2016 Tim, in conjunction with the Epworth Medical Foundation, led a fundraising trip – Vietnam: Hike & Hill-tribes – which successfully raised much-need funds for orthopaedic research at the Epworth Hospital.
Lachlan is an Australian trained orthopaedic surgeon with international sub-specialist training in knee surgery, joint replacement surgery, and sports medicine. Lachlan is a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.
His research interests include all aspects of knee surgery with a focus on anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. He is currently completing his PhD at La Trobe University investigating the role of biomarkers in predicting outcomes following ACL reconstruction. He has been awarded a highly competitive National Health and Medical Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship and a Royal Australasian College of Surgeon Scientist Scholarship for this research.
Lachlan teaches and supervises training surgeons through the Australian Orthopaedic Association at both Western Health and St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. He is a reviewer for multiple international journals including The American Journal of Sports Medicine, The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine and The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery. Lachlan serves on the Young Professionals Taskforce for the International Society for Arthroscopy, Knee surgery and Orthopaedic (ISAKOS) and the Patient Education Committee for the Australian Orthopaedic Association.
Hadyn graduated with a Bachelor of Food Science and Nutrition from Deakin University in 2012. He went to work in the food industry with Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods) in their Dairy division. Haydn worked on a wide variety of projects including new product launches and product maintenance.
In 2014 he returned to studies and completed his Honours year. His Honours year included a research project, based at Austin Health, studying early nutrition intervention for hip fracture patients. The project required the creation of a database of over 200 patients who had undergone hip fracture surgery during the time periods being studied, as well as statistical analysis of the patient groups and sub-groups. This research has since been published and Haydn presented the findings at the Dietetics Association of Australia conference in 2016.
Haydn started working at OSV in 2015 and commenced his role in the research unit in 2016. He is an integral part of the research team and performs clinical testing of all patients, in addition to managing the TKR patient database. In his spare time, Haydn plays rugby and organises a monthly comic book club.
Tabitha graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Psychology) (Honours) degree from RMIT University in 2014. Her honours thesis explored the area of injury in sport and how injury severity impacts an individual psychologically. She then went on to work in the research industry with Cancer Council Victoria, actively conducting field observations and data collection. The project she was involved in focused on examining the SunSmart behaviours of individuals utilizing council park facilities. Following this Tabitha worked as a research assistant for Federation University and assisted with a project focusing on eHealth and wellness. This project assessed the effectiveness of the Mindfulness and Physical Activity eHealth program.
Tabitha started working in the research department at OrthoSport Victoria in 2016. She performs data collections for patients who have undergone ACLR and TKR. Tabitha also assists with statistical analysis.
Areas of interest include research and psychology; cross-cultural and sports psychology in particular are areas she hopes to explore in the future. In her downtime, Tabitha enjoys playing basketball and continuing her training as a black belt in Taekwondo.
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