Gulraj Matharu

I qualified as a doctor from the University of Leeds in 2008 and subsequently commenced my clinical training in Birmingham. In August 2010 I was appointed as a Specialist Trainee in Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery in Birmingham, before securing one of the competitive NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow posts in the region in August 2012. This post allowed me to undertake clinical research related to hip and knee replacement surgery. During this time I developed a keen interest in the problems related to metal-on-metal hip replacements. I have subsequently published and presented on a number of aspects including medium- to long-term outcome studies of metal-on-metal hips, histopathological analysis and clinical outcomes following revision surgery, and various studies related to investigating patients with potential problems. This work led to the successful completion of my Masters of Research degree from the University of Birmingham.

In August 2014 I commenced my DPhil degree at the University of Oxford to pursue my research interests further. The investigation aspect of my thesis will focus on what blood test and cross-sectional imaging findings are clinically important in metal-on-metal hip patients. I will also identify at what intervals patients with these implants require follow-up. The management aspect of my thesis will focus on determining the outcomes of metal-on-metal hip patients undergoing revision surgery and identifying factors which affect subsequent patient outcomes. This will involve studies at four large Orthopaedic hospitals within the UK and Europe, as well as analysis of a large dataset provided by the UK National Joint Registry.