Our research encompasses the clinical, health services and population health research that is happening across the Flagship’s condition-specific research themes.
Our focus is on supporting the conduct of research to the highest standard, and to provide a network for those who are interested in this type of research.
Examples of the diverse research methodologies relevant to our theme include clinical trials, observational studies, health economic research and analysis of large datasets using data linkage and/or administrative datasets.
This trial will evaluate the effect of an opioid stewardship intervention on general practitioner prescribing of opioid medicines dispensed to their patients with low back pain over 1 year from index visit.
Lead investigator: Dr Christina Abdel Shaheed
Investigator team: Professor Chris Maher, Professor Fiona Blyth, Professor Andrew McLachlan, Associate Professor Patrick Kelly, Associate Professor Fiona Stanaway, Dr Thomas Lung, Dr Rachel Thompson, Professor Louisa Degenhardt, Associate Professor Rowena Ivers
Operational team: Mr Daniel Chapman, Miss Lisa Vizza
This trial will evaluate the effect of introducing a coordinated support system (linking hospital outpatient physiotherapy services to a public health coaching service) at discharge from low back pain treatment, compared with usual care provided at discharge.
Lead investigator: Professor Paulo Ferreira
Investigator team: Emeritus Professor Adrian Bauman, Professor Melissa Baysari, Professor Manuela Ferreira, Professor Chris Maher, Professor Rachael Morton, Associate Professor Milena Simic, Dr Anita Amorim, Dr Emma Ho, Professor Paul Hodges, Professor Chris Lonsdale, Dr Dragana Ceprnja, Dr Ornella Clavisi, Dr Alice Kongsted, Dr Qiang Li, Dr Kate Reid, Mr Mark Halliday, Mr Matthew Jennings, Ms Katherine Maka, Ms Tahlia Reynolds
Operational team: Dr Carlos Mesa Castrillon, Dr Emma Ho, Mr Julian Comis, Ms Kate Roberts, Mr James Zouch
HELP will investigate whether a media-led intervention presenting evidence-based back pain management information in General Practice waiting rooms is effective at changing patient beliefs and medical practitioner behaviours (prescriptions and referrals).
Lead investigator: Professor Manuela Ferreira
Investigator team: Emeritus Professor Adrian Bauman, Professor Melissa Baysari, Professor Paulo Ferreira, Dr Liliana Laranjo, Dr Gustavo Machado, Professor Andrew Georgiou
Operational team: Ms Carolina G. Fritsch, Mr Michael Knox, Ms Alessandra Marcelo, Mr Riyaas Mohammed, Ms Joanna Prior
NUDG-ED is a 2x2 factorial, open label, before-after, cluster randomised controlled trial that will investigate behavioural ‘nudging’ strategies to reduce use of low value care for low back pain in ED.
Lead investigator: Dr Adrian Traeger
Investigator team: Professor Kirsten Howard, Professor Chris Maher, Professor Kirsten McCaffery, Professor Rachelle Buchbinder, Professor Louise Cullen, Professor Ian Harris, Professor Jeff Linder, Professor Enrico Coiera, Mr Qiang Li
Operational team: Dr Swee Sharma, Ms Gemma Altinger
The Oral Steroids In Sciatica (OASIS) trial is a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial that will evaluate a tapering regimen of oral prednisolone in 200 participants with acute sciatica.
Lead investigator: Professor Chris Lin
Investigator team: Professor Chris Maher, Professor Andrew McLachlan, Dr Giovanni Ferreira, Dr Christina Abdel Shaheed, Professor Rachelle Buchbinder, Professor Ric Day, Professor Jane Latimer, Dr Qiang Li, Dr Chang Liu, Dr Bethan Richards
Operational team: Ms Melanie Hamilton, Mrs Hanan McLachlan, Ms Melissa Webb
OPAL is a randomised, placebo-controlled, triple-blinded trial that investigates the judicious use of an opioid analgesic in 346 participants with acute low back pain and/or neck pain.
Lead investigator: Professor Chris Lin
Investigator team: Professor Chris Maher, Professor Andrew McLachlan, Professor Laurent Billot, Professor Ric Day, Professor Bart Koes, Professor Jane Latimer, Dr Caitlin Jones
Operational team: Ms Melanie Hamilton, Mrs Hanan McLachlan, Ms Melissa Webb
SUcceSS is a prospectively registered, randomised placebo-controlled trial of decompressive spinal surgery in people with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis.
Lead investigator: Professor Manuela Ferreira
Investigator team: Professor Jane Latimer, Professor Chris Maher, Professor David Beard, Professor Rachelle Buchbinder, Professor Ian Harris, Professor Stephen Jan, Dr Gavin Davis, Dr Qian Li, Dr Ralph Mobbs, Dr Ralph Stanford
Operational team: Dr Emma Ho, Mr Michael Knox, Ms Joanna Prior
RESHAPED will develop, implement, and evaluate a novel model of care for the management of low back pain in emergency departments (ED). The model of care aims to relieve pressure on EDs.
Lead investigator: Professor Chris Maher
Investigator team: Professor Lisa Harvey, Professor Kirsten Howard, Professor Kirsten McCaffery, Professor Vasi Naganathan, Associate Professor Chris Williams, Dr Gustavo Machado, Professor Laurent Billot, Professor Rachelle Buchbinder, Professor Ian Harris, Professor Leigh Kinsman, Professor Jonathan Wiggers, Dr James Edwards, Dr Narcyz Ghinea, Dr Eileen Rogan
Operational team: Dr Danielle Coombs
TEXT4myBACK is a randomised clinical trial assessing the efficacy and cost effectiveness of a semi-personalised text message intervention for people with acute low back pain.
Lead investigator: Professor Manuela Ferreira
Investigator team: Professor Clara Chow, Professor Paulo Ferreira, Professor Andrew McLachlan, Professor Julie Redfern, Ms Carolina G. Fritsch, Ms Joanna Prior
Operational team: Ms Carolina G. Fritsch, Ms Alessandra Marcelo, Ms Joanna Prior
This trial will evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of implementing ‘Back@Home’, a virtual hospital model of care for patients with musculoskeletal low back pain presenting to the emergency department, in reducing length of hospital stay.
Lead investigator: Dr Gustavo Machado
Investigator team: Professor Chris Maher, Dr Danielle M Coombs, Dr Thomas Lung, Ms Alla Melman, Mr Min Jiat Teng, Professor Laurent Billot, Dr Owen Hutchings, Dr Qiang Li, Dr Mona Marabani, Dr Eileen Rogan
Empower is a randomised controlled trial of an eHealth-supported intervention comprised of a physical activity plan and progressive resistance exercise program for people living in rural Australia with chronic non-specific low back pain and/or knee osteoarthritis compared to usual care.
Lead investigator: Professor Paulo Ferreira
Investigator team: Emeritus Professor Adrian Bauman, Professor Manuela Ferreira, Associate Professor Georgina Luscombe, Associate Professor Milena Simic, Dr Carlos Mesa Castrillon, Mr Phillip R Davis, Mr Antonio Michell de Gregorio, Professor Kim Bennell, Dr Grahame Knox, Dr Ornella Clavisi, Dr Stephen Bunker, Ms Kristy Hatswell
Operational team: Dr Carlos Mesa Castrillon, Mr Antonio Michell de Gregorio
We hope the findings of this project lead to the development of home-based exercise programs to improve strength, balance and reduce falls and improve shoulder functioning in older people.
The aim of this project is to compare the effectiveness of two home-based exercise programs – one aimed at improving lower limb strength and balance for preventing falls and the other aimed at improving upper limb strength and mobility to reduce shoulder dysfunction.
Participants are taught the exercises in a group workshop setting and then complete their exercises at home three times each week for 12 months.
Participants are provided with a calendar to record their exercises and falls each month, and a program manual and exercise weights.
This project is no longer recruiting.
Lead investigator: Professor Cathie Sherrington
Investigator team: Professor Anne Tiedemann, Professor Kirsten Howard, Professor Emeritus Adrian Bauman, Associate Professor Karen Ginn, Dr Paul Van Den Dolder, Dr Susan Furber
For more information about this project, please contact Professor Cathie Sherrington.
This project has received ethics approval from the University of Wollongong and Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District.
This is a NHMRC Partnership Grant (2014–2019).
We hope the findings of this project lead to increased physical activity, decreased risk of falling and improved eating habits in older people.
The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of two 12 month healthy ageing strategies among people who attend established, community-based groups.
The first intervention is a physical activity and fall prevention intervention, including telephone-based health coaching and written information on physical activity and falls.
The second is a nutrition intervention involving telephone-based health coaching and written information about eating habits.
The trial also aims to establish the impact of these interventions on physical activity, eating habits, weight (body mass index), goal attainment, mobility confidence, quality of life, fear of falling, risk-taking behaviour, well-being, and mood.
This project is no longer recruiting.
Lead investigator: Professor Cathie Sherrington
Investigator team: Professor Anne Tiedemann, Professor Kirsten Howard, Professor Dafna Merom, Professor Chris Rissel, Professor Stuart Smith, Associate Professor Allison Tong
For more information about this project, please contact Professor Anne Tiedemann.
This project has received ethics approval from the University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee.
This is a NHMRC Project Grant (2015–2018).
We hope the findings of this project lead to the development of a yoga-based exercise program to prevent falls in people aged 65 and over.
The aim of this project is to assess the effectiveness of a 40 week yoga program, compared with an advice booklet, on falls.
We will also assess the effectiveness of the program on other key indicators of healthy ageing, such as mental health, establish the cost-effectiveness of the intervention, and measure the yoga program’s potential for implementation.
Participants allocated to the yoga-based exercise group will attend 40 weeks of twice-weekly, one-hour yoga classes in established yoga studios in Sydney with experienced yoga teachers.
Participants will be asked to complete a home-based yoga program for at least two extra 20-minute sessions each week.
For more information about this project, please contact us at: sph.sagetrial@sydney.edu.au
Lead investigator: Professor Anne Tiedemann
Investigator team: Professor Cathie Sherrington, Professor Stephen Lord, Professor Kirsten Howard, Professor Emeritus Adrian Bauman, Professor Chris Rissel, Emeritus Professor Robert Cumming, Professor Roberta Shepherd, Associate Professor Patrick Kelly, Professor Kaarin Anstey, Dr Anne Grunseit, Romina Sesto
This project has received ethics approval.
The sponsor of this trial is the University of Sydney.
Funding is from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
The aim of this trial is to assess the effectiveness of the Ironbark fall prevention program on reducing the number of falls in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are 45 years and older.
This group is compared to control participants who receive a healthy ageing program.
The Ironbark program includes interactive discussion about fall risk factors, combined with balance and strength training.
It was created after a successful New South Wales pilot and will now run across New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia.
This study is not yet recruiting participants.
Lead investigator: Professor Rebecca Ivers
Investigator team: Professor Cathie Sherrington, Professor Anne Tiedemann
For more information on this George Institute for Global Health trial, please contact: jcoombes@georgeinstitute.org.au.
This study is funded through the NHMRC.
We hope the findings of this project lead to enhanced promotion of physical activity by health professionals for people aged 50+ and people of all ages with a physical disability.
The aim of the project is to to collaboratively develop and test a strategy to support health professionals to promote PA to their patients – including older adults and children/adolescents/adults with physical disabilities – within their daily clinical practice.
The project is currently recruiting participants for phase one of the study-collaborative implementation strategy development.
In this phase we will conduct interviews, focus groups, workshops and surveys with health professionals, exercise providers and consumers to identify barriers to PA promotion and collaboratively develop the evidence-based implementation strategies and intervention elements.
Phase 2 of the study is a Type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation cluster randomised trial (2023 onwards).
In Phase 2 we will test the effectiveness of the implementation strategies and intervention elements in a Type 2 hybrid cluster randomised trial recruiting 800 participants across 30 sites.
Lead investigator: Professor Cathie Sherrington
Investigator team: Our team comprises of academics, public health experts and health economists from the University of Sydney, UNSW, Western Sydney University and Australian Catholic University, as well as multi-disciplinary clinicians from five Local Health Districts (Sydney, Western Sydney, South-Western Sydney, South-Eastern Sydney and Sydney Children Hospitals Network). Partner organisations include Disability Sport Australia, Australian Physiotherapy Association, Clinical Excellence Commission, iCare and Belgravia Leisure.
For more information about this project, please contact Kate Purcell.
This project has received ethics approval from Local Health District Ethics Committees and is being funded by an NHMRC Partnership Grant.
We hope the findings of this project lead to improved physical activity levels in adults who have difficulty walking.
The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of two physical activity interventions on adults with self-reported walking difficulty.
The participant will be allocated to one of three groups.
The first intervention includes: a tailored physical activity plan based on a face-to-face assessment with a physiotherapist; six months of phone-based health coaching; use of technology to keep you active and access to online resources.
The second intervention is a less intensive health-coaching program involving a phone consultation with a physiotherapist, monthly text messages to follow up and access to online resources.
The third group will receive no intervention for the first six months and then receive the second intervention for the second six months.
The project will be conducted over 12 months.
This project is no longer recruiting.
Lead investigator: Professor Cathie Sherrington
Investigator team: Professor Anne Tiedemann, Professor Lisa Harvey, Associate Professor Leanne Hassett, Professor Rana Hinman, Professor Maria Crotty, Professor Tammy Hoffmann, Professor Nicholas Taylor
For more information about this project, please contact Associate Professor Leanne Hassett.
This is a NHMRC Project Grant (2018–2021).
We hope the findings of this project will lead to improved physical activity levels in patients receiving brief physical activity counselling as part of their physiotherapy treatment.
BEHAVIOUR is a hybrid type II cluster randomised controlled trial.
The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-faceted implementation strategy compared to usual care on increasing the proportion of patients receiving brief physical activity counselling as part of hospital-based physiotherapy care, and subsequently improving the physical activity levels among these patients.
Physiotherapists in the intervention group will be assigned to receive the multi-faceted implementation strategy immediately to support them to incorporate brief physical activity counselling into their routine care.
The main implementation strategies will include education training, creating a learning collaborative, tailored strategies to address community referral barriers, facilitation and audit and feedback.
The control group will receive an updated version of the implementation strategy at the end of the trial.
The trial will be conducted with physiotherapists across all hospitals in South Western Sydney Local Health District and will include participants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Lead investigator: Associate Professor Leanne Hassett
Investigator team: Professor Cathie Sherrington, Professor Sarah Dennis, Professor Kirsten Howard, Dr Alison Pearce, Dr Marina Pinheiro, Professor Colin Greaves, Dr Bernadette Brady, Dr Lauren Christie, Matthew Jennings, Balwinder Sidhu
This study is funded through the MRFF preventive & public health grant (2020–2023) and NHMRC TRIP Fellowship (2019–2020).
Several theme members hold externally funded fellowships, including:
and/or hold competitive NHMRC/MRFF grants, including