David Murray

Professor Murray initially read Engineering Science at Cambridge and was awarded the Wright prize for engineering.

He later qualified in Medicine and trained at the Universities of Cambridge, London and Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and has a doctorate from the University of Cambridge.

In collaboration with his research team, clinical colleagues and the orthopaedic industry, Professor Murray has developed the Oxford Partial Knee. This device has a mobile bearing, is implanted using a minimally invasive approach and is the most widely used partial knee replacement. The success of this development has led to a worldwide increase in the use of partial knees, mobile bearings and minimally invasive approaches.

He is a member of the hospital's joint replacement team, specialising in knee and hip joints, and also leads a team of clinical scientists who work with the Department of Engineering Science and with Professor Ray Fitzpatrick's group in the Institute of Health Sciences.

His team are undertaking biomechanical and clinical studies related to the knee and hip. The biomechanical studies use anatomical, computer modelling, gait analysis and x-ray techniques to study normal, diseased and replaced joints.

They have made major contributions to the understanding of knee kinematics, both in normal and replaced joints, and to the development of methods to predict and prevent failure in joint replacements.

Patient-based scores, which measure the outcome of joint replacements, have been developed and are being used worldwide.

His group has helped to run the national audit of hip replacements and are now running the largest multi centre randomised controlled study of knee replacements in the UK (KAT). They have won a series of prizes for their work, including British and European Research Society Prizes.

The main clinical contributions have been the development of new implants and surgical techniques for knee replacement. The Oxford group pioneered the use of mobile bearings, which are used in about a third of knee replacements performed in European countries. The Oxford Unicompartmental replacements can now be reliably implanted with a minimally invasive technique. This gives a much more rapid recovery and better function than a standard total knee replacement and its use is increasing rapidly worldwide.