Associate Professor Ilana Ackerman is an experienced musculoskeletal researcher and orthopaedic physiotherapist. She completed her PhD at The University of Melbourne in 2006 and was awarded an NHMRC Public Health Early Career Fellowship (2008-2015) to support her research into the impact of severe hip and knee osteoarthritis in Australia. She will soon commence a new Victorian Health and Medical Research Fellowship which aims to quantify and monitor the burden of revision joint replacement surgery. Over the past 10 years, Ilana has led an important program of clinical and population-based research into the burden of hip and knee osteoarthritis, supported by the NHMRC, Arthritis Australia, HCF Research Foundation, Arthritis and Osteoporosis Victoria, and the Physiotherapy Research Foundation. Her research findings have been published in leading international rheumatology and physiotherapy journals and she has received a range of research awards for her work. Ilana is strongly committed to clinical researcher training and has a longstanding record of positive engagement with clinicians across physiotherapy, rheumatology and orthopaedic surgery. Ilana has brought her expertise in osteoarthritis to the Global Burden of Disease studies (2010, 2013, 2015 and 2016) and has contributed to the development of the ICHOM Standard Set for Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis, the Clinical Care Standards for Knee Osteoarthritis, and the new Victorian Model of Care for Osteoarthritis. She is Chair of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Physiotherapy, the top-ranked international physiotherapy journal, and an Editorial Board member for Arthritis Care & Research.

Professor Rachelle Buchbinder is a rheumatologist and clinical epidemiologist and an Australian NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. She is the Director of the Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Cabrini Institute; Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University; Joint Coordinating Editor of the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group; and current President of the Australian Rheumatology Association. Professor Buchbinder is a founding member and current Steering Group Chair of the recently established Australia & New Zealand Musculoskeletal (ANZMUSC) Clinical Trial Network. She combines clinical practice with research in a wide range of multidisciplinary projects relating to arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions as well as improving communication with patients and health literacy. She has a longstanding commitment to knowledge synthesis and implementation of clinical research evidence to guide clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes.

Dr John North is a knee surgeon with 95% of surgical and clinical practice involving the knee joint. He is SVMO at Princess Alexandra Hospital and Mt Isa Hospitals, and Clinical Director Queensland Audit of Surgical Mortality. He has roles as clinical advisor to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency; Chairman, Orthopaedic Assessment Tribunals, Office of Industrial Relations Queensland; Chairman, Clinical Committee, MBS Taskforce; and clinical advisor for Department of Health. He was a past president for the Australian Orthopaedic Association.