What does it actually mean to have 'early-stage' osteoarthritis, and does catching it sooner really make a difference? On this week's episode of Joint Action, learn more about early-stage knee osteoarthritis, how it's defined, and why the EsSKOA initiative is changing the way we identify and understand the condition in its earliest phases.

Dr. Armaghan Mahmoudian is an Assistant Professor of Movement Sciences and Health at the University of West Florida, where she teaches anatomy and physiology, biomechanics, and research methods, and co-directs the biomechanics and motor learning laboratory. As a clinician-scientist, her research focuses on understanding disease mechanisms and their impact on function and quality of life, with a particular interest in personalised medicine and disease prevention in an ageing population.

RESOURCES

• EsSKOA Initiative
• Journal article Reframing early-stage symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (EsSKOA): A strategic lens for trial design

CONNECT WITH US

• Naia Health: https://www.naiahealth.com.au/st-leonards-hub
• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

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On this week's episode of Joint Action, learn more about how knee braces work, who they help and how they can improve pain and function for people with knee osteoarthritis.

Melanie Holden is a Chartered Physiotherapist and the Professor of Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation at the School of Medicine at Keele University. Her current research focuses on how to best manage musculoskeletal pain through rehabilitation using non-drug, non-surgical treatments.

Her mission is to create high-quality, innovative research that improves patient care. She is an expert in a wide range of research methods, and she involves patients and the public at every stage of her research, to ensure that it reflects real-world needs and experiences.

RESOURCES

Journal article

• Provision of knee bracing for knee osteoarthritis (PROP OA): multicentre, parallel group, superiority, statistician blinded, randomised controlled trial

CONNECT WITH US

• Naia Health: https://www.naiahealth.com.au/st-leonards-hub
• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

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Knee osteoarthritis doesn’t just affect joints—it can limit people’s ability to participate fully in work and daily life, shaping their long‑term wellbeing and productivity. In this week's episode of Joint Action we are joined by Jason Jin and Ilana Ackerman to explore how knee osteoarthritis influences workforce participation.

Dr Xingzhong (Jason) Jin is a conjoint research fellow at UNSW and the managing director of Precision Statistics Medtech Consulting. He is a musculoskeletal epidemiologist and health data scientist with a desire to bridge the gap between research and real-world healthcare impacts.

Professor Ilana Ackerman is a Research Professor at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University and Deputy Director of the Musculoskeletal Health Unit. She is a musculoskeletal epidemiologist and an experienced orthopaedic physiotherapist and has led an important program of clinical and population-based research designed to quantify the personal and societal burden of hip and knee osteoarthritis, forecast trends in arthritis and joint replacement surgery, and evaluate the outcomes of joint replacement. She has also been involved in the development of multiple policy and guideline initiatives for osteoarthritis.

RESOURCES

Journal articles

• Loss of Productivity-Adjusted Life-Years in Working-Age Australians Due to Knee Osteoarthritis: A Life-Table Modeling Approach

CONNECT WITH US

• Naia Health: https://www.naiahealth.com.au/st-leonards-hub
• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

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Why does a bad night’s sleep make everything hurt more? On this week's episode of Joint Action, we are joined by A/Prof Michelle Hall to explore the cycle between sleep and pain and some practical strategies to help regain both rest and relief.

Michelle Hall is an Associate Professor within Sydney Musculoskeletal Health and the School of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney. A leading expert in hip and knee osteoarthritis, Michelle's research focuses on lifestyle strategies-including exercise, sleep, and bracing-to reduce pain and improve quality of life. Her work has produced more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, and she currently leads multi-site clinical trials across Australia and the United States.

RESOURCES

• ThisWayUp - Online Mental Health Treatment

CONNECT WITH US

• Naia Health: https://www.naiahealth.com.au/st-leonards-hub
• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

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Hear from the co-editors-in-chief of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage journal on what they thought were the latest advances in osteoarthritis research in 2025.

Anne-Marie Malfait, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine and the Klaus E. Kuettner, Chair of Osteoarthritis Research at Rush University. She is co-Editor-in-Chief of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage journal alongside David Hunter.

RESOURCES

David's papers

• Comparative efficacy and safety of exercise modalities in knee osteoarthritis: systematic review and network meta-analysis
• Clinical and cost-effectiveness of a cycling and education intervention versus usual physiotherapy care for the treatment of hip osteoarthritis in the UK (CLEAT): a pragmatic, randomised, controlled trial
• The Cost-Effectiveness of Semaglutide and Tirzepatide for Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis and Obesity

Anne-Marie's paper

• FM-dye inhibition of Piezo2 relieves mechanically evoked pain in mouse models of acute inflammatory and osteoarthritic knee pain
• Association of Synovial Innate Immune Exhaustion With Worse Pain in Knee Osteoarthritis
• Lipidomics unravels lipid changes in osteoarthritis articular cartilage

CONNECT WITH US

• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

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Tai Chi is a gentle, low-impact exercise that combines slow, controlled movements with balance and mindfulness. In this week’s episode of Joint Action, we are joined by Julia Zhu to discuss the evidence behind Tai Chi and its benefits for people living with knee osteoarthritis.

Julia Zhu is a physiotherapist and PhD student at the Centre for Health, Exercise & Sports Medicine at the University of Melbourne. She recently submitted her PhD, which focused on developing and evaluating a self-directed online intervention for people with osteoarthritis in a clinical trial, where she developed the RETREAT trial that investigated at the effects of an online Tai Chi program. She has an interest in bridging the gap between research and practice and to drive impact with innovation.

RESOURCES

• MyJoint Tai Chi website
• Online Unsupervised Tai Chi Intervention for Knee Pain and Function in People With Knee OsteoarthritisThe RETREAT Randomized Clinical Trial

CONNECT WITH US

• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

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On this week's episode we are airing the debate between Prof Kim Bennell, internationally renowned for her groundbreaking research on physiotherapy, exercise, and self-management for people living with osteoarthritis and Prof Marius Henriksen, a leading voice in musculoskeletal research, who has rigorously examined the role and sometimes limits of exercise in osteoarthritis care. Listen to this thought-provoking exchange between two absolute heavyweights in the field and dig deeper to find out whether exercise truly delivers on its promise for people with osteoarthritis.

RESOURCES

• Youtube recording

CONNECT WITH US

• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

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On this week's episode we discuss reframing pain in the context of osteoarthritis. The purpose of today’s conversation is to help you reconceptualise what pain means and shift the dialogue from pain being solely a marker of tissue damage and discusses the nervous system adaptations that occur as pain persists. Further we discuss education programs that target this knowledge and the beliefs that may underlie behaviours that detract from your ability to be physically active and modify your behaviour.

Associate Professor Tasha Stanton leads the Osteoarthritis Research Theme within IIMPACT in Health at the University of South Australia, Adelaide. Her research group is affiliated with the Body in Mind Research group in Adelaide (University of South Australia).

Tasha completed her PhD at the University of Sydney in 2010 and is currently a National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Career Development Fellow (2019-2022). She has received over $5.3m in competitive research funding to date, including a highly renowned Canadian Institute of Health Research Postdoctoral Training Fellowship (2011-2014) and NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (2014-2018). Her research aims to understand why we have pain and why, sometimes, pain doesn't go away.

RESOURCES

Journal articles

• A pain science education and walking program to increase physical activity in people with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a feasibility study
• The EPIPHA-KNEE trial: Explaining Pain to target unhelpful pain beliefs to Increase PHysical Activity in KNEE osteoarthritis - a protocol for a multicentre, randomised controlled trial with clinical- and cost-effectiveness analysis

Websites

• NOI Group

CONNECT WITH US

• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

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On this episode of Joint Action, Vicky puts David in the hot seat with listener questions.

RELATED EPISODES

• A chat to David and listener questions (Season 2, 2021)
• Meaghan's osteoarthritis journey (Season 2, 2021)

JOURNAL ARTICLES

• Dietary supplements for treating osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
• The Association of Recreational and Competitive Running With Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
• Is There an Association Between a History of Running and Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis? A Cross-Sectional Study From the Osteoarthritis Initiative

CONNECT WITH US

• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Joint Action, Vicky puts David in the hot seat with listener questions—and a few personal ones too.

RELATED EPISODES

• A chat to David and listener questions (2021)

CONNECT WITH US

• Join one of our trials https://www.osteoarthritisresearch.com.au/current-trials
• Instagram: @ProfDavidHunter
• Twitter: @ProfDavidHunter @jointactionorg
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.jointaction.info/podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to learn more about osteoarthritis from the world's leading experts! And please let us know what you thought by leaving us a review!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.