Five emerging researchers will have the chance to develop their skills and raise the international profile of the Kolling Institute thanks to generous funding from the Skipper Jacobs Charitable Trust.
Academic Director Professor James Elliott said a total of $40,000 will be shared by the early-to-mid career researchers to increase their research impact and strengthen their collaborations.
Pablo Cruz-Granados: travelling to Spain
Pablo, a PhD candidate within the Kolling’s Menière’s Disease Neuroscience Lab, will complete a three-month stay with the Otology and Neurotology group at the University of Granada.
Pablo said I would like to thank the Skipper Jacobs Charitable Trust for this amazing opportunity.
“During my time, I will be investigating the clinical phenotypes of Ménière’s Disease to gain a better understanding of its presentation in different populations,” he said.
“I will be expanding my skill set by learning advanced bioinformatic tools to analyse structural variants in DNA which could identify mechanisms underlying the disease.
“I’m excited to accept the Beryl and Jack Jacobs Travel Award and truly appreciate the generous support. It will be incredibly valuable for my research and upcoming travel.”
Dr Kenji Fujita: travelling to Denmark and Japan
Kenji, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Departments of Clinical Pharmacology and Aged Care has helped develop a real-time calculation system to measure frailty in older hospitalised adults.
During his trip, he will deliver a keynote address at the International Pharmaceutical Federation conference in Copenhagen on innovative approaches to reduce the inappropriate use of medications in older adults.
He will also meet with research partners in Japan to advance their collaborative project analysing medication data from millions of older adults across community pharmacies in Japan.
Kenji said he was truly honoured to receive the award.
“This international travel will enhance my academic leadership profile, while strengthening cross-institutional partnerships and promoting the Kolling Institute’s innovative translational research globally,” he said.
Dr Noriko Sato: travelling to Washington, USA and Wakayama, Japan
Noriko is a research fellow within the Kolling who specialises in frailty research in older patients using data from six hospitals in NSW.
She will present the frailty study at the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology conference in Washington and chair an international symposium at the Japanese Society of Social Pharmacy.
Noriko said I am very pleased to have received this award and excited about the chance to present our study at the largest and most prestigious pharmacoepidemiology conference.
“This travel grant will broaden my expertise, strengthen international collaborations and extend the impact of our Kolling research using data to improve the use of medications in clinical practice,” she said.
Kate Bryce: travelling to North Carolina and Florida, USA
Kate, a PhD student with the Osteoarthritis Clinical Research Group at Kolling, investigates the use of digital technologies to encourage behaviour change in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
Kate will attend the 2026 Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) World Congress in the USA, where she will meet with experts in behaviour change and implementation science, including collaborators from Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University.
Kate says their expertise will allow us to enhance the broader rollout of the ATLAS clinician eLearning platform for osteoarthritis and a mobile app for knee osteoarthritis named OA Coach.
“Visiting their universities and learning from their work will help refine digital interventions to support clinician and patient behaviour change more effectively, and I’m grateful to have received this travel award.”
Bimbi Gray: travelling to Florida and North Carolina, USA
Bimbi, a PhD candidate also with the Osteoarthritis Clinical Research Group, will attend the 2026 OARSI World Congress and deliver a presentation on the ATLAS program.
The trip will strengthen partnerships with leaders at the Thurston Arthritis Research Centre in North Carolina and the Arthritis Foundation’s Osteoarthritis Action Alliance. These collaborations will speed the implementation of ATLAS with insights to refine and scale the program for broader adoption.
Bimbi said she was thrilled to receive the travel award.
“As an early-career researcher, this experience will bolster my expertise in knowledge translation, implementation science and international collaboration, while also boosting the reputation of our research at the Kolling Institute,” she said.
Professor Elliott thanked the Skipper family for their generous backing of the program, and the NORTH Foundation for their ongoing support.
New research from the University of Sydney and the Kolling Institute reveals that obesity, having a knee injury and occupational risks such as shift work and lifting heavy loads are primary causes of knee osteoarthritis.
Published in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, the study was led by Dr Vicky Duong and Associate Professor Christina Abdel Shaheed from Sydney Musculoskeletal Health, a joint initiative between the University of Sydney, Northern Sydney Local Health District and Sydney Local Health District.
Using data from 130 studies involving people from 20 to 80 years old, the researchers examined over 150 risk factors to determine which were associated with an increased risk of developing knee osteoarthritis.
Knee osteoarthritis is a debilitating condition that affects over 500 million people around the world and is a leading cause of disability.
The research found that addressing lifestyle factors, such as losing weight or adopting a better diet, could significantly improve people’s health.
The study found that following a mediterranean diet, drinking green tea and eating dark bread could reduce the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis.
Co-author and Kolling Institute researcher Professor David Hunter said the research identified some key trends.
“Women were twice as likely to develop the condition than men, and older age was only mildly associated with increased risk,” he said.
Reducing the risk of knee osteoarthritis
Dr Duong, lead author and post-doctoral researcher at the Kolling Institute, said eliminating obesity and knee injuries could potentially reduce the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis by 14 percent across the population.
“We urge governments and the healthcare sector to implement policy reforms that address occupational risks, subsidise knee injury prevention programs, and promote healthy eating and physical activity to reduce obesity,” she said.
Thank you to Northside Living News for profiling an exciting clinical trial to prevent knee osteoarthritis.
Our researchers at the Kolling Institute are now recruiting to the large-scale trial which will offer long-term support to lose weight and avoid knee osteoarthritis all together.
If you would like to know more about the trial and to sign up, click here:
To read about the details in Northside Living News:
A federal government funding boost will pave the way for a much-needed, tailored program for culturally diverse communities experiencing musculoskeletal pain.
Dr Saurab Sharma, the Chief Clinical Scientist from the Pain Management and Research Centre at Royal North Shore Hospital, has received a National Health and Medical Research Council investigator grant to progress his research and develop an innovative treatment plan.
Investigator grants are awarded to only a small number of leading scientists in Australia each year to advance health research.
As a researcher within the Kolling Institute, Dr Sharma said a specific, co-designed program is needed as culturally and linguistically diverse Australians often miss out on high quality care due to cultural, language, and health literacy barriers.
“These communities are often excluded from research including clinical trials, which means evidence-based treatments are designed without their input or experiences,” he said.
“Ultimately, this means Australians from diverse backgrounds receive poor care and experience poorer outcomes compared to other Australians.”
The $700,000 grant will support the development of a digital, pain-management treatment program for communities from Arabic, Chinese, Indian, Nepali, and Vietnamese backgrounds with musculoskeletal pain.
“Importantly, the program will be co-designed with individuals with lived experiences of musculoskeletal pain, healthcare professionals from respective cultural backgrounds, and world-leading musculoskeletal pain experts,” he said.
“Our initiative aims to empower marginalised and disadvantaged communities, build research capacity within these communities, and foster a greater understanding of pain among community members and healthcare professionals to transform pain management for these vulnerable communities.
“Encouragingly, our program could be adopted on a global scale as it will be tailored for Arabic, Cantonese, Hindi, Mandarin, Nepali, and Vietnamese languages, which are spoken by over 2.2 billion people globally.
“A cultural and linguistic adaptation of the educational resources could benefit approximately a quarter of the world’s population.
“We hope the pain management program will enhance health equity, reduce costs and inform national and international guidelines on musculoskeletal pain.”
An innovative tool which could revolutionise the detection and treatment of musculoskeletal and neurological conditions will be further developed following a $230,000 gift.
The donation was made following a campaign by the University of Sydney’s Advancement team and the NORTH Foundation to support the world’s first open-source dataset of whole-body muscle composition.
The Kolling Institute’s Academic Director Professor James Elliott said there is a critical need for the diagnostic tool with musculoskeletal and neurological conditions among the leading causes of illness and disability worldwide.
“With these conditions affecting more than four billion people, they are expected to cost around $21 billion in healthcare expenditure by 2033 in Australia alone,” he said.
“Early identification and intervention are crucial if we are to offer long-term health benefits and minimise the disease burden.
“We know that these conditions often lead to a steady decline in muscle health, and this decline is evident by an increase in fat deposits in the muscles and the loss of muscle fibres.
“CT and MRI scans can be used to identify these changes, but the time it currently takes is prohibitive.
The MuscleMap tool however, will automatically identify any changes, potentially revolutionising the detection of muscle health in any part of the body. It could inform treatment for everyone from elite athletes to astronauts and older people with complex conditions.
Astronauts for instance, experience significant muscle loss due to the effects of prolonged exposure to zero gravity.
Using existing MRI and CT scans, the landmark global study has applied an artificial intelligence model to produce a dataset of muscle health of any part of the body. This will enable a patient’s muscle deterioration to be compared with a healthy person’s.
Professor Elliott said this will mean a clinician will be able to upload a scan into the MuscleMap program, and within minutes, will have access to detailed information measuring muscle composition compared to a reference dataset.
“For athletes and the general population, the tool will accurately inform the journey from injury to repair, recovery and return to physical activity.
“For patients with osteoporosis, the program will provide a detailed analysis of overall health and muscle deterioration, which will then inform personalised strategies to develop healthier muscle mass and improve general health and wellbeing.
“We are very appreciative of this generous donation to the MuscleMap project. It will enable the broader team to continue developing the digital infrastructure needed to launch the open-source portal.
“It will be a pioneering resource, accessible to clinicians and researchers globally, and supporting the long-term health of communities.”
To donate to the innovative MuscleMap project visit the NORTH Foundation.
If you’re looking for the best advice for osteoarthritis care, have a listen to one of our leading clinicians and Kolling Institute researchers Professor David Hunter as he highlights the most effective treatment approaches and the low-value ones to avoid.
In one of the first global clinical trials of its kind, researchers have launched a study to investigate if a diet and exercise program aimed at weight loss can prevent the development of crippling knee osteoarthritis.
The trial will be led by researchers from the University of Sydney and the Kolling Institute in collaboration with an international team from Wake Forest University in North Carolina, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Osteoarthritis Prevention Study or TOPS will compare the impact of a dietary weight-loss, exercise and weight-loss maintenance program with health education in preventing the development of knee osteoarthritis.
The condition is the leading cause of disability among adults, particularly impacting women over 50 who are overweight or obese.
The large-scale clinical trial will be conducted over four years, with participants receiving either a program of regular diet and exercise sessions or a healthy lifestyle program with information sessions, newsletters and text messages.
Internationally recognised rheumatologist, leading University of Sydney researcher and Royal North Shore Hospital clinician Professor David Hunter said the study is one of the first prevention clinical trials which could help people with occasional knee pain reduce their risk of knee osteoarthritis.
“Our trial has come at a time when an increasing number of people are turning to medications like Ozempic or GLP-1 agonists to assist with weight loss and the management of knee osteoarthritis,” he said
“These weight-management medications are a feasible option for managing the condition, but questions remain around safety, cost-effectiveness and the likelihood of weight rebounding.
“Recent investigations by our team indicate that despite the promising results from trials of GLP-1 agonists, lifestyle interventions remain the first-line, safest and most cost-effective approach for people who are overweight, obese or living with knee osteoarthritis.
“Building on that research, our clinical trial will aim to confirm the most effective lifestyle strategies to actually prevent knee osteoarthritis before the condition develops.
“We are looking forward to progressing this valuable area of research and establishing evidenced-based models of care to avoid this increasingly common, disabling condition.”
The research team is now recruiting 320 women who are 50 years or over, who experience little to no knee pain, and who have a Body Mass Index of 30 or more.
The study will involve screening visits over 2–4 weeks and yearly assessment visits over four years, as well as regular diet and exercise or healthy lifestyle classes. Participants will receive long-term support towards achieving a healthy lifestyle.
“Classes are currently available on the Lower North Shore of Sydney and we encourage women who live or work in the area to apply to the program,” said Professor Hunter.
“Depending on the interest, we could look to start classes in other areas of metropolitan Sydney as well,” he said.
Funding has been provided by the National Institutes of Health, the Arthritis Foundation, the University of Missouri, Wake Forest University, and Rapid Nutrition PLC.
This study has been approved by the Northern Sydney Local Health District Human Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 2023/ETH00669).
You can contact the study team directly with any questions at tops.study@sydney.edu.au
As a clinical trials program lead at the Kolling Institute, Dr Karen Bracken has long been driven to help researchers conduct trials in the best way possible.
“Researchers are passionate about their disease area and their patients, and they have so many unanswered questions,” she says.
Karen comes from a family of clinicians, and while she didn’t want to practise medicine, she was still drawn to working in the health space. She has spent most of her career working on clinical trials.
She says trials are a multidisciplinary activity that require collaboration between clinicians, statisticians, patients and the trial operations team. She sees her role in operations as the engine that makes the trial run.
Recruiting patients for trials is a complex area, and Karen completed a PhD on the topic after struggling to recruit men for a diabetes study she was working on.
“I really wanted to make that trial a success and I was casting around for ideas on how I could recruit,” she says.
“I realised that everyone was running their recruitment in an evidence-free zone. We often use the kitchen sink method where we brainstorm every single possible thing we can do to recruit participants to our trials and, in the process, waste a lot of time and money.”
Karen says she worked in a more intentional way, testing different strategies to understand why they did or did not work. They were eventually able to fully recruit for the trial.
Karen advises colleagues to properly plan their recruitment.
“Be realistic with yourself about how long it’s going to take and how much money it’s going to cost.”
She also says it’s important to look at similar trials and speak to those who ran them.
“There’s a whole world of people conducting trials, and there’s a lot of evidence out there. People just aren’t in the habit of looking for papers written about how to recruit participants.”
Karen is eager to see greater diversity in trials, which includes recruiting more people who do not have English as their first language, as well as members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
She says she wants everyone to be able to easily join a trial.
“It’s important that we lead change in terms of inclusive health care.”
We would like to thank everyone involved in the 2024 Kolling Institute Symposium.
During the event, a diverse collection of researchers detailed the latest progress with their ground-breaking work into kidney and heart disease treatments, bone and muscle conditions, rare cancers, and neurological challenges. There was a focus too on the innovative work to develop a unique wellbeing index.
Researchers discussed how they’re tapping into technology to deliver care to large numbers of patients, improving outcomes with the latest heart valve devices and investigating the benefits of reducing multiple medications for older patients.
The symposium brought together researchers, representatives from our joint venture partners (Northern Sydney Local Health District and the University of Sydney) and a growing network of community partners to celebrate our impactful work.
Academic Director Professor James Elliott said the event featured thoughtful presentations, panel discussions, poster presentations, and an Oxford Debate on the impact of AI on healthcare.
“I would like to thank our guest speakers Professor Susan Morton, Director of INSIGHT at the University of Technology and Lifeline Australia ambassador and wellbeing advocate Matt Caruana who shared his personal experience and inspiring perspective,” he said.
“The symposium provided an opportunity to hear how our researchers are extending our understanding of complex conditions and improving therapies and outcomes.
“It also offered the chance to highlight some special awards for a group committed to increasing access to high-quality care, and improving the health and wellbeing of our broader community.
“I would like to congratulate the 2024 Kolling Institute award recipients for their remarkable commitment to our research success.” They include:
PhD Supervision Award
Associate Professor Sonia Saad
Department of Medicine, Renal Research Laboratory
HDR Student Award
Amanda Purcell
Renal Research Laboratory
Discovery Science Award Category A
Dr Nunki Hassan
Cancer Stem Cell and Biology Laboratory
Discovery Science Award Category B
Dr Sumit Sahni
Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory
Professional Staff Award Category A
Susan Smith
Raymond Purves Bone and Joint Research Laboratory
Kolling Histology Core Facility
Professional Staff Award Category B
Annette McCook
Research Development Officer
Excellence in poster presentation
Claire Wong
Excellence in oral presentation
Dr Karan Rao
“Thank you to the many people involved in bringing this large-scale event together to highlight the remarkable and life changing work underway at the Kolling Institute,” said Professor Elliott.
Copyright © 2025 Kolling Institute
All rights reserved