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: hello@jointaction.info
• 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.

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: hello@jointaction.info
• 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.

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: hello@jointaction.info
• 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.