NJR Research Committee (RC)

The Research Committee is responsible for delivering the research agenda of the NJR. The committee’s aim is to enhance the understanding of the science of joint replacement, improve clinical practice, and benefit public health. Research provides the route to improved treatments and keeping patients at the centre of what we do is a guiding principle for all of our research activity. My thanks go to all members of the committee for their efforts in the past year and for their hard work which makes it possible to facilitate data access and to support these high-quality research outputs. After more than ten years’ providing data support to the committee, we thank Claire Newell for her steadfast service and wish her well for her retirement. The committee welcomes Tim Chisnall, who replaces Claire in this role. We also welcome Peter Sivey from the University of York as member with health economics expertise, and Steve Gwilym as shoulder and elbow surgeon representative.

Our business-as-usual activities continue throughout the year, including research application review, the data access portal, and publications outputs – please download the NJR Research Project Portfolio here that catalogues research projects, progress reports and NJR research updates, together with links to all publications related to NJR data. I would like to take this opportunity to address some of this year’s particular highlights and developments below.

Broadening data linkages

In 2022 the NJR was awarded £60,000 by Health Data Research UK to map our dataset to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model as part of the European Health Data Evidence Network. We are pleased to report that this mapping exercise is now complete and allows the NJR dataset to be linked with over 180 data partners across 29 countries that are mapping their data to this common model.

Research fellowship scheme

We are pleased to welcome Ben Tyas in his appointment as Research Fellow to the joint NJR/Orthopaedic Research UK/Royal College of Surgeons of England research fellowship programme. Ben is investigating clinical outcomes in revision knee arthroplasty for aseptic loosening.

In January 2023, the NJR Steering Committee also approved funding for the development of a Non-Clinical Researcher PhD fellowship. This award recognises the wealth of expertise within our specialty that lies with non-clinical scientists, without whom orthopaedics would have seen only a fraction of its current level of development over the decades. The award is aimed at non-clinicians who wish to study towards a PhD on any topic within the field of joint replacement, providing the project has use of the NJR dataset at its core to address the question of interest. Professor Claire Brockett at the University of Sheffield has been awarded this year’s funding to host a PhD studentship entitled “Evaluating interventions for end-stage ankle osteoarthritis”.

NJR annual research programme

Building on many high-quality publications over the years, we continue to develop our annual research programme. Current projects are: Performance of all-poly tibias; Surgeon volumes and ankle replacement surgery; Outcomes of cemented devices using different cements; and Inequalities in joint replacement provision and outcomes. As projects complete, new topics are brought on stream. All projects are delivered in a collaboration between the NJR Research Committee and our statistical analysis partners.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) research

The NJR recognises the strengths, and limitations, that artificial intelligence brings to our field of study. We continue to support a machine learning PhD studentship to address the limitations of current models in predicting implant and patient survival and in the development of transfer learning and federated learning models to better predict the outcomes of surgery.

Submitting a research application

The Research Committee takes formal responsibility for the approval for the release of NJR data for research, through an impartial and objective process and has oversight of the use and reporting of this data by research groups. Its priority is to ensure that any research question justifies access to the data and offers potential benefits to patients. Research proposals should align to our priority framework and be feasible, ethical, relevant, and methodologically-sound.

The committee provides a framework for applicants to request data for research of public benefit. We aim to support applicants through the process of developing a robust research application that addresses the question posed. All requests must also be approved by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) Data Access Request Group for final authorisation of data release. Subsequent to approval, data is made available for analysis through the NJR Data Access Portal.

Further Information

In order to get a feel for the previous and current fields of research being studied using NJR data, please visit the NJR Research Project Portfolio. If you would like to submit a research application, you can submit an expression of interest for consideration via research@njr.org.uk. Invited full applications are reviewed by the committee quarterly. Full details of the NJR’s research application pathway can be found here and please refer to the recording of our research webinar for full guidance. 

A full list of publications related to NJR data is included in Appendix 4.