We're excited that today we have a dynamic duo on the podcast: Dr Andrea Bruder and Dr Adam Culvenor.

Adam is a Physiotherapist and Research Fellow at the La Trobe University Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, Australia. He has combined a clinical career in sports medicine together with research investigating prevention, management and long-term outcomes of sports-related injuries, and life-span osteoarthritis. He has a particular interest in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries; in optimising return to sport, identifying risk factors for poor long-term outcomes, and developing and testing novel osteoarthritis prevention strategies. Adam has written more than 50 publications on the subject of ACL injuries and osteoarthritis, has been invited to speak at numerous international conferences, and is\ currently leading the first clinical trial in the prevention of osteoarthritis in young adults following ACL injury.

Andrea is a physiotherapist, Lecturer in Physiotherapy at La Trobe University and Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre. Her research focuses on improving injury prevention and rehabilitation practices after musculoskeletal injuries. Andrea has a particular interest in reducing the risk of ACL injuries among women and girls playing Australian football, and for those who do sustain an ACL injury, how we can improve rehabilitation practices to reduce the long-term burden.

In this podcast we talked about:

- what the ACL is and how it can be injured

- some risk factors for ACL injury (in males and females)- including some of the social, environmental factors

- some of the current programs that exist that have been shown to reduce lower limb injuries...but how the uptake has been poor

- surgical versus non surgical (sexy, cutting-edge rehab) management

- why a trial period of this kind of rehabilitation may be of benefit, even if the client goes on to have surgery further down the track

- how the rates of arthritis are similar between the two treatment options

If you'd like to check out their blog, head to http://semrc.blogs.latrobe.edu.au/blog

Their website details:

https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/display/abruder

https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/display/a2culvenor

Email addresses:

a.bruder@latrobe.edu.au

a.culvenor@latrobe.edu.au

aclstudy@latrobe.edu.au

Twitter: @AndreaBruder

Twitter: @agculvenor