Ilana Ackerman

		Qualifications:		B.Physio. (Hons), PhD
		Position:		NHMRC Public Health Postdoctoral Fellow
		Location:		AFV Centre for Rheumatic Diseases
		Postal Address:		AFV Centre for Rheumatic Diseases C/- The University of Melbourne Department of Medicine (RMH/WH) Royal Melbourne Hospital 4th Floor Clinical Sciences Building Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3050
		Telephone:		+61-3 8344 3146
		Fax:		+61-3 9342 7632
		Email:		i.ackerman@unimelb.edu.au

Biography

Ilana is an experienced physiotherapist who has practiced primarily in orthopaedic physiotherapy in both acute hospital and rehabilitation settings. In 2006, Ilana completed her PhD at The University of Melbourne investigating the pre-operative status of people waiting for joint replacement surgery. This research revealed that people waiting for surgery had very poor quality of life and high psychological distress, especially women and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. An alarming 15% of people on the waiting list were found to have a quality of life that was equivalent to or worse than death. Overall quality of life was similar to that reported by people following recent stroke and further deterioration was observed during the waiting period. As a direct result of her PhD findings, the Victorian Department of Human Services has since undertaken a major project to improve the management and prioritisation of people on orthopaedic waiting lists.

Ilana has been awarded a number of scholarships, prizes and grants for her research including a Henry James Williams postgraduate scholarship, Melbourne Abroad Travel Scholarship, Australian Health Outcomes Conference new presenter’s prize and a CASS Foundation Postdoctoral Travel Grant. In 2006 she was awarded a Physiotherapy Research Foundation grant for research into factors associated with Health-Related Quality of Life after joint replacement surgery. In 2007, together with researchers from Melbourne, Monash and Sydney universities, she was awarded an ARC Linkage Project Grant in partnership with the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing to determine the number of Australians living with hip or knee osteoarthritis, the population need for health services and the impact of the condition on the workforce. Most recently Ilana was awarded an NHMRC Public Health (Australia) Postdoctoral Fellowship (2008-2011) to investigate the impact of severe hip and knee osteoarthritis on the lives of Australians and whether access to joint replacement surgery is timely and equitable.

Ilana’s research has been published in international peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at Australian and international rheumatology and health outcomes conferences. She has reviewed manuscripts for several international journals, is a member of the Grants Review Committee of the Physiotherapy Research Foundation and is an assessor for the NHMRC Project Grants scheme.

Research Interests

• Prevalence and impact of hip and knee osteoarthritis in Australia
• Wellbeing of people waiting for joint replacement surgery
• Predictors of outcome from joint replacement surgery 

Publications

2009

• Ackerman IN, Dieppe PA, March LM, Roos EM, Nilsdotter AK, Brown GC, Sloan KE and Osborne RH. Variation in age and physical status prior to total knee and hip replacement surgery: A comparison of centres in Australia and Europe. Arthritis Care and Research. 61:166-173.

2007

• Ackerman IN, Busija L and Osborne RH (2007): The impact of osteoarthritis on Australian workers. Public Health Association of Australian In Touch newsletter 24(1): 4.

2006

• Ackerman IN, Graves SE, Bennell KL and Osborne RH (2006): Evaluating quality of life in hip and knee replacement: Psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF instrument. Arthritis Care and Research 55(4): 583-590.
• Osborne RH, Buchbinder R and Ackerman IN (2006): Can a disease-specific education program augment self-management skills and improve Health-Related Quality of Life in people with hip or knee osteoarthritis? BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 7(1):90.
• Ackerman IN (2006): Invited commentary on Barker et al: Patient satisfaction with accelerated discharge following unilateral knee replacement. International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation 13(6): 253.
• Ackerman IN (2006): Invited review of: Rheumatology Expert Group (2006): Therapeutic Guidelines - Rheumatology.  Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Association In Touch magazine, Issue 3.

2005

• Ackerman IN, Graves SE, Wicks IP, Bennell KL and Osborne RH (2005): Severely compromised quality of life in women and those of lower socioeconomic status waiting for joint replacement surgery. Arthritis Care and Research 53(5): 653-658.
• Ackerman IN and Osborne RH (2005): Integrating data to facilitate clinical research: A case study. Informatics in Primary Care 13: 263-270.

2004

• Ackerman IN and Bennell KL (2004): Does pre-operative physiotherapy improve outcomes from lower limb joint replacement surgery? A systematic review. Australian Journal of Physiotherapy 50(1): 25-30.
• Ackerman IN and Bennell KL (2004): Current Australian practice in pre-operative physiotherapy prior to total knee replacement surgery.  Physiotherapy 90(4):176-182.