Highlights

• Two new research projects have been funded
  • The Bridge Builder project received funding from OsloMet on February -22. The project is led by Parisa Gazerani and Margreth Grotle. The project aims to construct and establish a user-centered approach in musculoskeletal (MSK) research by using existing evidence, identifying research gaps, making a priority list, and formulating research gaps that will be studied in subsequent research and presented in a scientific report
  • The HEYoung Intervention Study received funding from both Stiftelsen Dam and the Norwegian Physiotherapy Fund autumn -22. The project is led by Britt Elin Øiestad and Henriette Jahre. The project will co-create an intervention with users and stakeholders for adolescents with pain and test the intervention in a feasibility and pilot study
• Two postdocs and three PhDs have started
  • Olaf Fjeld was employed as a post doctor in the Co-Occurrent project 1st of January. Olaf Fjeld is a neurologist with a PhD from Oslo University Hospital. He will investigate prognostic models for co-occurrent pain and mental distress in adolescents and young adults
  • Bjørnar Berg was employed as a post doctor in the AID-Spine project 1st of February. He is a physiotherapist with a PhD from Oslo University Hospital and are doing his postdoc in work package 1 in AID-Spine. He will investigate prognostic models for different health outcomes related to spinal surgery
  • Zheng An Toh is a PhD student in the AID-Spine Project from Singapore University. He aims to generate knowledge in the contextual perspective of Singapore, by conducting a systematic review over risk and prognostic co-decision support tools, externally validate the findings generated from Norway in Singapore, and evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the Singaporean validated AI-based prognostic tool for spinal disorders for orthopaedic surgeons and patients to co-decide treatment plans
  • Martin Gorosito was employed as a PhD student in the Co-occurrent project 1st of September 2022. He has a computer science background and has written a master thesis in bionics. He will develop prognostic models using different machine learning (ML) methods and traditional statistical approaches to predict the outcomes obtained from registry data and compare the predictive performance of different models
  • Frida Elise Larsen started as a PhD student in September in the Bridge Builder Project. Frida will investigate the needs and expectations of individuals who are affected by the interaction cycle of occupation-musculoskeletal health, those who are on longterm sick leave and disability benefits due to occupational musculoskeletal disorders, and health personnel at primary care, who are in contact with these individuals
• The CIM team have 84 publications in scientific journals
• Three PhD completions
  • Henriette Jahre defended her thesis “Prevalence and risk factors for neck and musculoskeletal pain in adolescents and young adults” 13th of May 2022
  • Fiona Aanensen defended her thesis “Return to work interventions for workers on sick leave due to MSK disorders. Evaluation of motivational interviewing and a stratified vocational intervention” 16th of October 2022
  • Rikke Munk Killingmo defended her thesis “Cost of Illness due to Back Pain in Older People. Healthcare utilization, modifiable prognostic factors, and the measurement properties of self-reported productivity loss using the iMTA Productivity Cost Questionnaire” 28th of October 2022

Conclusion

The Center for Intelligent Musculoskeletal Health (CIM) has expanded with the inclusion of both the MUSKHealth and the Applied AI group and now includes 48 members. Currently, we have 11 research projects ongoing, whereas two new research projects were funded this year (The Bridgebuilder project and HEYoung Intervention Study). Two new postdoc and three new PhD students have started in 2022. Twenty-two research applications have been submitted, and we wait for response on twelve applications. Eighty-four publications are published in international scientific journals from CIM. CIM activities have also been broadly disseminated through social media, several congresses, international seminars, and events organized by the CIM group.