Advanced Limb Reconstruction
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Head of Department of Surgery,
St. Vincent's Hospital,
Professor Peter Choong+61 3 92312365
Research Overview
Musculoskeletal disease, the second highest cause of disability globally, underpins research within the Department of Surgery at St. Vincent's. The Advanced Limb Reconstruction Research Programme (Director - Prof. Peter Choong) addresses a spectrum of conditions including degeneration, tumour, trauma and infection, and is divided into clinical (Arthritis Surgery, Musculoskeletal Oncology), tissue engineering (Catilage, Muscle, Nerve Regeneration), bioengineering (3D printing, Advanced biofabrication, Medical devices), and robotics (Neural Prosthetic Interface, Limb Bionics, Robotic Surgery) streams.Arthritis surgery research (Head - Dr. Michelle Dowsey) explores the outcomes after total joint replacement and how these relate to patient, surgical, prosthetic and engineering factors. With a rich and deep source of data in the St. Vincent's Melbourne Arthroplasty (SMART) registry, our research also informs health economic analyses that drives practice change. Musculoskeletal oncology research is driven by the St. Vincent's Musculoskeletal Oncology Research (STORM) Registry and studies outcomes after multimodal treatment. This work underpins the practice and policy of surgical care of patients with bone and soft tissue tumours. Tissue Engineering research focuses on rebuilding cartilage (Lead - Dr. Claudia Di Bella), muscle and nerve (Lead - Assoc. Prof. Robert Kapsa). Advanced Biofabrication research studies the design and development of novel metal (Lead Collaborator - Prof. Milan Brandt, RMIT) and biosynthetic (Lead Collaborator - Prof. Gordon Wallace, Wollongong) implants for reconstruction. Robotics research (Lead Collaborator - Dr. Denny Oetomo, Melbourne Engineering) aims to understand and develop strategies for creating bionic limbs, and Surgical Innovation (Lead - Prof. Peter Choong) explores the novel use of computer guidance, minimally invasive and robotic assistance to improve the accuracy, safety and efficacy of orthopaedic and tumour surgery.
This research is enabled by basic science platforms including mechanobiology (Lead - Assoc. Prof. Peter Pivonka), cell and molecular biology, stem cell biology and polymer science (Lead - Dr. Cathal O'Connor, Wollongong).
Staff
Prof Peter Choong, Head of Department of Surgery.
A/Prof Peter Pivonka, Senior Research Associate.
Dr. Michelle Dowsey, Senior Research Associate, NHMRC Research Fellow
Dr. Claudia Di Bella, Senior Lecturer.
Dr Romane Blanchard, Independent Researcher
Dr. Timothy Spelman, Research Associate
Ms. Cheryl Augustine, Research Assistant
Dr. Serena Duchi, Research Fellow
Dr. Samantha Bunzli, Research Associate
Dr. Elizabeth Nelson, Research Associate
Dr. Carmine Onofrillo, Research Associate (Honorary)
Dr. Cathal O'Connell, Research Fellow (Uni. Wollongong)
Ms. Claire Weeden, Study Coordinator
Ms. Jane Keenan, Clinical Research Nurse
Mr. Ruth Guy, SMART Registry Coordinator
Ms. Angela Cochrane, Clinical Research Coordinator
Collaborators
Prof. Gordon Wallace. Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, University of Wollongong
Prof. Milan Brandt. Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT
Prof. Ma Qian. Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT
Prof. Davide Donati. Bone Regeneration Laboratory, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna
Dr. Enrico Lucarelli, Bone regeneration Laboratory, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna
A/Prof. Robert Kapsa, Neuroscience, Melbourne University
A/Prof. Denny Oetomo, Engineering, Melbourne University
Prof. Marcus Pandy, Engineering, Melbourne University
Prof. Stan Skafidis, Centre for Neural Engineering, Melbourne University
Prof. Paul Stoddart, Biomedical Engineering, Swinburne University of Technooogy
Prof. Simon Moulton, Biomedical Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology
Prof. Dietmar Hutmacher, Biomedicine, Queensland University of Technology
Dr. Stewart Ryan, Veterinary Science, Melbourne University
Prof. Philip Clark, School of Population Health Science, Melbourne University
Prof. Anthony Scott, Commerce, Melbourne University
Prof. Jane Gunn, General Practice, Melbourne University
Prof. Kim Bennell, Physiotherapy, Melbourne University
Prof. Rana Hinmann, Physiotherapy, Melbourne University
Prof. David Castles, Psychiatry, Melbourne University
A/Prof. Vijaya Sundararajan, Medicine, Melbourne University
Dr. Mandana Nikpour, Medicine, Melbourne University
A/Prof. Michael Salzberg, Psychiatry, Melbourne University
Prof. David Hunter, Medicine, Sydney University
Prof. Peter O'Sullivan, Physiotherapy, Curtin University
Assoc. Prof. Anne Smith, Physiotherapy, Curtin University
Prof. Kay Crossley, Physiotherapy, Latrobe Univesity
Prof. Nicholas Taylor, Physiotherapy, Latrobe Univesity
Prof. Stefan Lohmander, Orthopaedics, Lund Univesity, Sweden
A/Prof. Peter Kent, Physiotherapy, University of Odense, Denmark
Dr. Kieren O'Sullivan, Physiotherapy, University of Limerick, Ireland
Prof. Jasvindar Singh, Medicine, University of Alabama
Prof. Michael Catton, Medicine, Cleveland Clinic
Prof. Wendy Brown, Centre for Obesity Research, Monash University
Prof. Paul O'Brien, CEntre for Obesity Research, Monash University
Prof. Danny Liew, Epidemiology, Monash University
Dr. Simon Knowles, Psychological Science, Swinburne University of Technology
Funding
NHMRC Project grants
NHMRC Development grant
ARC Discovery grants
ARC Linkage grants
ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterial Sciences
ARC Training Centre in Biodevices
ARC Training Centre in Additive Manufacturing
St. Vincent's Hospital Research Endowment Fund
St. Vincent's Foundation
Valma Angliss Foundation
Irene Phelps Charitable Trust
Australian Orthopaedic Research Foundation
Victorian Orthopaedic Research Trust
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
University of Melbourne
Johnson & Johnson
Medacta
Research Publications
- Imanishi J, Slavin J, Pianta M, Jackett L, Ngan SY, Tanaka T, Charoenlap C, DI Bella C, Choong PF. Tail of Superficial Myxofibrosarcoma and Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma After Preoperative Radiotherapy. Anticancer Res. 2016
May;36(5):2339-44. PubMed PMID: 27127141. - Scarlato RM, Dowsey MM, Buising KL, Choong PF, Peel TN. What is the role of catheter antibiotic prophylaxis for patients undergoing joint arthroplasty? ANZ J Surg. 2016 Apr 20. doi: 10.1111/ans.13584. [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed PMID: 27098849. - Kirkinis MN, Spelman T, May D, Choong PF. Metastatic bone disease of the pelvis and extremities: rationalizing orthopaedic treatment. ANZ J Surg. 2016 Apr 18. doi: 10.1111/ans.13615. [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed PMID: 27091575. - Gandler N, Simmance N, Keenan J, Choong PF, Dowsey MM. A pilot study investigating dietetic weight loss interventions and 12 month functional outcomes of patients undergoing total joint replacement. Obes Res Clin Pract. 2016 Mar-Apr;10(2):220-3. doi: 10.1016/j.orcp.2016.03.006. Epub 2016 Apr 3.
PubMed PMID: 27053573. - Tanaka T, Imanishi J, Charoenlap C, Choong PF. Intramedullary nailing has sufficient durability for metastatic femoral fractures. World J Surg Oncol. 2016 Mar 10;14(1):80. doi: 10.1186/s12957-016-0836-2.
PubMed PMID: 26966046; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4785732. - Knowles SR, Nelson EA, Castle DJ, Salzberg MR, Choong PF, Dowsey MM. Using the common sense model of illness to examine interrelationships between symptom severity and health outcomes in end-stage osteoarthritis patients. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2016 Mar 8. pii: kew022. [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed PMID: 26961745. - Dowsey MM, Spelman T, Choong PF. Development of a Prognostic Nomogram for Predicting the Probability of Nonresponse to Total Knee Arthroplasty 1 Year After Surgery. J Arthroplasty. 2016 Feb 9. pii: S0883-5403(16)00121-2. doi: 10.1016/j.arth.2016.02.003. [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed PMID: 26935945. - Charoenlap C, Imanishi J, Tanaka T, Slavin J, Ngan SY, Chander S, Dowsey MM, Goyal C, Choong PF. Outcomes of unplanned sarcoma excision: impact of residual disease. Cancer Med. 2016 Mar 1. doi: 10.1002/cam4.615. [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed PMID: 26929181. - Ye K, Traianedes K, Choong PF, Myers DE. Chondrogenesis of Human Infrapatellar Fat Pad Stem Cells on Acellular Dermal Matrix. Front Surg. 2016 Jan 26;3:3. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2016.00003. eCollection 2016. PubMed PMID: 26858950;
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4726816. - Imanishi J, Grinsell D, Choong PF. Bone-patellar tendon-bone allograft reconstruction for peri-patellar tendon sarcomas: case series. Springerplus. 2015 Nov 26;4:740. doi: 10.1186/s40064-015-1510-9. eCollection 2015.
PubMed PMID: 26640752;
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4661164. - Di Bella C, Fosang A, Donati DM, Wallace GG, Choong PF. 3D Bioprinting of Cartilage for Orthopedic Surgeons: Reading between the Lines. Front Surg. 2015 Aug 13;2:39. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2015.00039. eCollection 2015. Review.
PubMed PMID: 26322314;
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4534805. - Broadhead ML, Lokmic Z, Tan ML, Stevenson A, Binns DS, Cullinane C, Hicks RJ, Choong PF, Myers DE. Applying Advanced Imaging Techniques to a Murine Model of Orthotopic Osteosarcoma. Front Surg. 2015 Aug 3;2:36. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2015.00036. eCollection 2015.
PubMed PMID: 26284252;
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4522961. - Zhang BG, Quigley AF, Bourke JL, Nowell CJ, Myers DE, Choong PF, Kapsa RM. Combination of agrin and laminin increase acetylcholine receptor clustering and enhance functional neuromuscular junction formation In vitro. Dev Neurobiol. 2016 May;76(5):551-65. doi: 10.1002/dneu.22331. Epub 2015 Aug 21.
PubMed PMID: 26251299. - Trieu J, Sinnathamby M, Di Bella C, Pianta M, Perera W, Slavin JL, Schlicht SM, Choong PF. Biopsy and the diagnostic evaluation of musculoskeletal tumours: critical but often missed in the 21st century. ANZ J Surg. 2016 Mar;86(3):133-8. doi: 10.1111/ans.13251. Epub 2015 Aug 2. Review.
PubMed PMID: 26235443. - Anderson NJ, Dowsey MM, Choong PF. Effect of re-transfusion systems on physiotherapy participation and transfusion in total knee joint arthroplasty. ANZ J Surg. 2015 Jul 30. doi: 10.1111/ans.13259. [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed PMID: 26223577. - Dowsey MM, Smith AJ, Choong PF. Latent Class Growth Analysis predicts long term pain and function trajectories in total knee arthroplasty: a study of 689 patients. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2015 Dec;23(12):2141-9. doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2015.07.005. Epub 2015 Jul 14.
PubMed PMID: 26187575. - Imanishi J, Choong PF. Three-dimensional printed calcaneal prosthesis following total calcanectomy. Int J Surg Case Rep. 2015;10:83-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2015.02.037. Epub 2015 Mar 10.
PubMed PMID: 25827294;
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4429954. - Tang MH, Castle DJ, Choong PF. Identifying the prevalence, trajectory, and determinants of psychological distress in extremity sarcoma. Sarcoma. 2015;2015:745163. doi: 10.1155/2015/745163. Epub 2015 Feb 12.
PubMed PMID: 25767410;
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4342175.