Researcher biography

Jonathan is Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Musculoskeletal and Orthopaedic Research at the STARS Education and Research Alliance. “STARS” is the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service specialist public health facility in Brisbane and the “Alliance” is between the University of Queensland (UQ) and Metro North Health in Queensland, Australia. He is also Steering Committee Member of the UQ Centre for Innovation in Pain and Health Research (CIPHER).

His vision is to improve the quality of life of people with the most common and disabling types of joint pain. He is passionate about leading research priority setting partnerships and investigating the most effective and safe treatments to support condition management. A key part of this is understanding what works best for whom and why. He has a specialist interest in the clinical and surgical management of joint pain due to osteoarthritis and low back pain. To maximise research impact he also seeks to understand the best ways of getting new knowledge from research to the people who need it most including healthcare practitioners and people with joint pain.

His boundary-spanning physiotherapy career has involved clinical, academic, conjoint, policy and professional body roles. Prior to joining the University of Queensland, he was Research into Practice Adviser at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in the UK and he holds a Visiting Senior Research Fellow position at The University of York, UK.

He has published over 45 peer-reviewed journal articles in top musculoskeletal journals including The Lancet Rheumatology, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, Rheumatology and the British Journal of Sports Medicine. He has lead-supervised three research students to completion (1 PhD, 1 MPhil and 1 Academy of Medical Sciences project student) and has 3 ongoing PhD students. He contributes to national policy (e.g. 2022 UK NICE osteoarthritis guideline committee), is a steering group member of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International Joint Effort Initiative (which seeks to improve the international implementation of evidence based osteoarthritis care) and has held national committee strategy, research and communications officer roles (e.g. for: The Community Rehabilitation Alliance; The British Society of Rheumatology, and; the Council for Allied Health Professions Research). He thrives through collaboration and welcomes approaches from prospective PhD students. He is committed to high quality consumer involvement and improving equity, diversity and belonging in research.

Examples of national and international recognition include:

-Invited advisor to NHS England Obesity Expert Group and report writer of “the impact of weight and weight management on osteoarthritis of the hip and knee” 2021-23.

-Invitations to give international conference plenaries including the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) Epidemiology and Therapy Year in Review in 2021.

-Clinical Research Network West Midlands Research Scholar Fellowships x2 2020-2022

-National Institute of Health Care Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lecturer in Physiotherapy 2016-2019

-OARSI Young Investigator Award 2014