Research areas

Prevention and treatment of joint injuries and musculoskeletal pain conditions such as osteoarthritis

Professor Jonas Bloch Thorlund (JBT) focus on conducting potentially practice changing research to investigate if safer and less invasive treatments such as exercise therapy can substitute or complement invasive treatments like surgery and opioids for joint injuries and musculoskeletal pain.

JBT is the principal investigator (PI) of Knee Arthroscopy Cohort Southern Denmark – KACS. The aim of the KACS cohort is to investigate the natural time course of patient perceived pain and function after meniscectomy with particular focus on the dependence of the different types of meniscus tears.

JBT is the senior investigator of several large projects and randomized controlled trials:

• Danish Rct on Exercise versus Meniscal Surgery for young adults (the DREAM trial).
• A Cognitive Functional Therapy+ Pathway Versus an
  Interdisciplinary Pain Management Pathway for Patients
  With Severe Chronic Low Back Pain (the CONFeTTI Trial).
• A randomized trial of heavy resistance training for patients with symptomatic knee joint hypermobility.
• The REDO project focussing on the use of opioids for osteoarthritis pain and the potential of exercise therapy to reduce opioid use.

Curriculum

JBT is employed as Professor of Musculoskeletal Health and is head of the Research Unit for Musculoskeletal Function and Physiotherapy at the Dept. of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics and is also affiliated to the Research Unit of General Practice at the Dept. of Public Health. He has a background in Sports Science and Health (MSc) and defended his PhD in 2011.

JBT is head of the PhD program in ‘Physical activity and Musculoskeletal Health’ at SDU and have supervised several PhD students and more than 30 MSc thesis of which about half has resulted in peer-reviewed publications. He holds several competitive grants from Independent Research Fund Denmark and has been Associate Editor for BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (2018-2021). In addition, he perform numerous ad-hoc reviews of grants and for scientific journals including for top journals such as BMJ, Ann Intern Med, Ann Rheum Dis, Osteoarthritis & Cartilage and British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Follow JBT on twitter: @jbthorlund

Link to list of publications in PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Thorlund+JB