Latest News - 3
Veronique Price
- Clinical orthopaedics
- Arthroplasty
- Health literacy
- Digital health
Dr Myles Davaris
MD, BBiomed, PhD (enrolled)
Dr Davaris is a medical doctor pursuing a career in orthopaedic surgery. He is currently undertaking his PhD through St Vincent’s Hospital and The University of Melbourne within the OPUS Research Stream 4. His research interests lie at the nexus of clinical orthopaedics and digital health. He is passionate about exploring how digital technologies can enhance health literacy and improve patient outcomes during the total joint replacement journey.
Research publications
OTHER KEY ROLES
Medical Doctor
Student Orthopaedic and Musculoskeletal Association (SOMA): Founding member and Vice President
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Machine Learning
- Shared Decision-Making
- Risk Prediction
- Qualitative Research
- Total Knee Replacement
@DJGould94
Daniel Gould
BSc, MD-PhD (enrolled), Graduate Diploma in Biostatistics (enrolled)
Daniel Gould is the first MD student to transition to a formal MD-PhD program at the University of Melbourne. He works within Streams 2 and 3 of the OPUS CRE, namely Risk Prediction and Shared Decision-Making, respectively. Specifically, he is working with experienced clinical researchers, qualitative researchers, and artificial intelligence experts to develop a machine learning-enabled risk prediction tool for total knee replacement recipients while also investigating the views of patients and surgeons on the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Daniel’s long-term research goal is to build artificial intelligence systems and embed them in clinical workflow to improve patient care. A key aspect of this research is involving stakeholders and ensuring their input is valued and prioritized throughout the process.
AWARDS/SCHOLARSHIPS
2018 Australian Orthopaedic Association Joint University Scholarship
OTHER KEY ROLES
OPUS Translation and Engagement; OPUS Consumer Engagement; OPUS Data Link; St Vincent’s Surgical Students’ Society: Committee Member
SOMA (Students in Orthopaedic and Musculoskeletal Academia): President
Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne: Research Assistant
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Joint replacement
- Pharmacoepidemiology
- Bioethics and Clinical ethics
Cade Shadbolt
BA, MA, PhD (enrolled)
Cade is a University of Melbourne PhD candidate at the OPUS Centre for Research Excellence. He has previously completed a Master of Arts (Professional and Applied Ethics) and Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy), and is now pursuing pharmaco-epidemiological academic interests.
His PhD project aims to better understand the impact of preoperative opioid use on outcomes following total joint replacement. This project will draw on data from the SMART registry, which has recently been linked to the Australian national prescribing database. To investigate differences in the prevalence of preoperative opioid use between countries, this project will involve ongoing collaboration with members of the Consortium Against the overuse of Opioids in Surgery.
Shadbolt C, Abbott JH, Camacho X, Clarke P, Lohmander LS, Spelman T, Sun EC, Thorlund JB, Zhang Y, Dowsey MM, Choong PF. The Surgeon’s Role in the Opioid Crisis: A Narrative Review and Call to Action. Frontiers in Surgery. 2020;7:4.
McDougall R, Shadbolt C, Gillam L. The practice of balancing in clinical ethics case consultation. Clinical Ethics. 2019. Doi: 10.1177/1477750919897377
McDougall R, Hayes B, Sellars M, Pratt B, Hutchinson A, Tacey M, Detering K, Shadbolt C, Ko D. ‘This is uncharted water for all of us’: challenges anticipated by hospital clinicians when voluntary assisted dying becomes legal in Victoria. Australian Health Review. 2019. doi: 10.1071/AH19108
Awards/Scholarships
2020 – 2022 Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship and Stipend
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Joint Replacement
- Osteoarthritis
- Sex-differences in outcomes
Annabelle Choong
BBmed, BBmed (Hon) (enrolled)
Annabelle is a University of Melbourne Honours student contributing to research that informs discussions between clinicians and patients about postoperative outcomes, recovery and mitigation of risks following joint replacement. Specifically, she is researching the sex-differences observed in patients following surgery. This includes variation in pain and functional status before and after surgery, and rates of infection, revision, mortality and other adverse complications.
Research publications
Tew, M., Dowsey, M. M., Choong, A., Choong, P. F., & Clarke, P. J. J. o. C. M. (2020). Co-Morbidities and Sex Differences in Long-Term Quality-of-Life Outcomes among Patients with and without Diabetes after Total Knee Replacement: Five-Year Data from Registry Study. 9(1), 19.
OTHER KEY ROLES
Social Media and Promotions Officer for SOMA (Students’ Orthopaedic and Musculoskeletal Association)
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Indigenous Health
- Osteoartritis
- Joint Pain
Naz Rind
BNursingSc
Naz is a registered nurse, an Aboriginal Research Assistant at OPUS and is identified in her tribe as a Yamatji/Wongi lady. Naz engages and liaises with Aboriginal communities as a healthcare worker to build trust and develop a rapport and understanding of long-term health. She is passionate about improving Aboriginal community health awareness by helping individuals recognise the symptoms of osteoarthritis – a common health issue that is not fully recognised in Aboriginal communities.
Naz is a vital member of the OPUS ECCO program where she conducts interviews with Aboriginal patients and provides ongoing cultural support and knowledge to OPUS-related activities.
Australian College of Nursing Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarship Scheme (PHMSS)
Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) Scholarship
Australian Rotary Indigenous Health Scholarship
OTHER KEY ROLES
Registered Nurse (Grade 2, Year 5) Dialysis nurse treating acute and chronic patients in ICU and ED
Trainer for nursing students
Health worker in Aboriginal communities, community nursing and mental health units
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Aboriginal Health
- Osteoarthritis
- Community Engagement
- Joint pain
Dr Tilini Gunatillake
PhD; BSc (Hons)
Tilini is a research fellow working in the ECCO stream of the OPUS CRE, which focuses on providing equitable, culturally secure osteoarthritis care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Tilini engages with local Aboriginal communities and organisations on behalf of ECCO to build meaningful partnerships. By understanding how Aboriginal Australians perceive their health and drawing on their knowledge of the disease, she endeavours to develop an approach better suited for Aboriginal Australians to access culturally secure osteoarthritis care.
Tilini also works for St Vincent’s Health Australia, under the leadership of Professor Gail Garvey. Her role involves assisting in the development and implementation of an Aboriginal health research strategy across the entire organization and assisting in building up capacity of Aboriginal staff to carry out research. Tilini is passionate about social and health justice, and also embedding the voice of the community and consumers in the research process.
GRANTS
Research Endowment Grant for The ‘in-patient’ study: exploring the knowledge and understanding of osteoarthritis in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients admitted at SVHM ($16,938)
OTHER KEY ROLES
OPUS Consumer and Community Advisory Group: Liaison Officer
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Health economics
- Economic modelling
- Economic evaluation
Dr Chris Schilling
PhD, MSc, BEng (Hons)/BCom(Hons)
Dr Chris Schilling is an academic and consultant health economist who works across the OPUS CRE to provide health economics, economic evaluation and economic modelling support. His research priorities include improving the cost-effectiveness of surgery, understanding the economics of trials, and reducing low-value care in the treatment of osteoarthritis. Chris is involved in teaching both ‘Health Economics’ and ‘Economic Evaluation’, and supervision of PhD and Master students. In consultancy (KPMG), Chris leads a team of health economists providing economic evaluation and modelling to a range of government and industry clients. His work has influenced key public policy debates around obesity, mental health, low-value care and e-cigarettes.
Research publications
AWARDS/SCHOLARSHIPS
Excellence in Doctoral Research, University of Melbourne, 2018
Postgraduate scholarship, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2015-2017
Best Paper, Australian Health Economics Society Doctoral Workshop 2015
Best Sessional Presentation, University of Melbourne School of Population and Global Health PhD Workshop 2015
OTHER KEY ROLES
KPMG Economics: Associate Director
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Musculoskeletal pain
- Behavioural intervention
- Osteoarthritis
- Pain-related fear
Dr JP Caneiro
BPhysio, PhD
Dr JP Caneiro is a Specialist Sports Physiotherapist (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2013) and a PhD in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy. JP is a researcher at Curtin University, where he also lectures in the Clinical Masters in Physiotherapy. He has published several research papers and presented his work internationally.
Dr JP Caneiro consults three days per week at Body Logic where he reviews complex musculoskeletal pain disorders, in special lower back and knee pain. JP provides mentoring to the clinical staff to ensure the highest level of clinical care is provided within the practice.
OTHER KEY ROLES
Curtin University: Research Fellow
Body Logic Physiotherapy Perth: Specialist Physiotherapist
Pain Ed: Educator
British Journal of Sports Medicine: Associate Editor
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Orthopaedic Surgery
- Arthroplasty
- Osteoarthritis
Dr Sina Babazadeh
MBBS, PhD, DipSurgAnat, GCALL
Dr Babazadeh is an orthopaedic surgeon with a keen interest in joint replacement research. He completed his PhD at St Vincent’s in 2013, concentrating on improving knee replacement surgery outcomes. Since then he has trained as an orthopaedic surgeon (so that he could see what people looked like from the inside), concentrating on knee, hip and wrist surgery. His interests outside of academia revolve around history, philosophy and bad puns.
His main academic interest remains clinical arthritis outcomes, especially pertaining to joint replacement and surgery and he is currently working on a number of projects with the aim of improving patient satisfaction after joint replacement surgery.
OTHER KEY ROLES
St Vincent’s Hospital, Eastern Health, Melbourne Hand Surgery: Orthopaedic Surgeon
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Qualitative research
- Beliefs and
- Physiotherapy
Dr Samantha Bunzli
BPhty (Hon), GradCert (Research Methodology), PhD
Sam uses qualitative methodologies to explore the experience of musculoskeletal pain from the perspective of those suffering pain, and the experiences of clinicians treating them. She has expertise in a range of qualitative methodologies including qualitative studies embedded within an implementation framework.
As a post-doctoral fellow with OPUS, she is involved in a range of qualitative projects spanning four OPUS streams. This has provided Sam an opportunity to work with, and learn from, a large network of researchers. It has also enabled her to apply her skills to a diverse range of studies such as: a prospective investigation of patient pathways to and expectations of joint replacement surgery; a case series intervention study of a non-operative alternative to surgery for advanced osteoarthritis; and a nation-wide behaviour change intervention to increase evidence based decision making among Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Dr Bunzli mentors and supervises PhD students using qualitative research approaches to advance orthopaedic care. She currently co-supervises PhD students investigating patient-reported outcomes from joint replacement surgery; exploring the health literacy of patients undergoing joint replacement; and the impact of osteoarthritis among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Sam is also co-chair of the OPUS Education and Training Committee.
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
Professor Michael Barrington
PhD, FANZCA, MBBS
Michael Barrington is an Anaesthetist at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne and Professor for the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne. Clinical and academic interests include evaluating the quality and safety of regional anaesthesia, clinical registries and education. In addition to teaching regional anaesthesia using problem based learning discussions, tutorials, lectures and interactive formats; he has implemented novel training methods including workshop formats (cadaver, use of Hands-on Modules), core skill development, procedural assessment, Teaching on the Run and pre-operative briefings.
OTHER KEY ROLES
St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne: Senior Staff Anaesthetist
The University of Melbourne: Academic Professor
Department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine: Coordinator, Regional Anaesthesia Research
Guy’s and St. Thomas Hospitals, London: Honorary Consultant
Veronique Price
OUR PEOPLE
- Quality of life
- Medical decision making
- Cost-effectiveness analysis
Professor Michael Kattan
PhD, MBA
Professor Kattan is an advisor for OPUS projects within Streams 2 and 4. Professor Kattan’s research is primarily focused on the development, validation, and use of prediction models. He is also interested in quality of life assessment to support medical decision making (such as utility assessment), decision analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and comparative effectiveness.
OTHER KEY ROLES
Cleveland Clinic: Dr. Keyhan and Dr. Jafar Mobasseri Endowed Chair for Innovations in Cancer Research
Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Cleveland Clinic: Chairman
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University: Professor of Medicine
Division of General Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University: Professor
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University: Professor
American Statistical Association: Member
Society for Medical Decision Making: Member