SOMA TEAM

DANIEL GOULD

President

Dan is UniMelb's guinea pig MD-PhD student; he started MDRP 2 in his final year of medical school, then deferred MD4 in order to enroll in a PhD alongside some clinical exposure to continue to fulfill the MD requirements. He came into medical school with a very clear idea that he wanted to be a paediatrician and did not think I wanted to do surgery. Long story short, he loved his surgical rotation and then converted to orthopaedics when he observed a total hip replacement towards the end of MD2 (in 2017). Dan loves MSK health because he is a firm believer in the benefits of an active lifestyle, and being part of research and clinical practice that enables people to be as active as they can be is a powerful way to promote and facilitate overall health and well-being

Fun fact about Dan is he does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 3-4 times a week, and was promoted to purple belt (half way to black belt) in at the end of 2019 after 5 years of training.

CADE SHADBOLT

Secretary

Cade is a University of Melbourne M-Phil candidate at the OPUS Centre for Research Excellence. He has previously completed a Master of Arts (Professional and Applied Ethics) and Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy), and is now pursuing pharmaco-epidemiological academic interests. His M-Phil project aims to better understand the impact of preoperative opioid use on outcomes following total joint replacement.

MYLES DAVARIS

Vice President

Dr Davaris a medical doctor pursuing a career in orthopaedic surgery. He is currently undertaking his PhD through St Vincent's Hospital and The University of Melbourne.
His research interests lie at the intersection of digital health and clinical orthopaedics. He is passionate about exploring how digital technologies and gamification can enhance health literacy for patients undergoing total joint replacement leading to better outcomes.

SIDDHARTH RELE

Treasurer

Siddharth (Sid) is a final year MD student from the University of Melbourne. He has always had an interest in surgery – given its practical solutions for complex problems. And his passion for orthopaedics was founded through witnessing its ability to return function to patients.

PENNY O’BRIEN

Community Officer

Penny is PhD candidate and qualitative researcher at the OPUS Centre for Research Excellence, University of Melbourne, Department of Surgery. Her research focuses on exploring the impact of osteoarthritis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Within her PhD she also aims to explore the process of establishing Aboriginal health research partnerships and culturally secure research methods in this novel research area. This involves a lot of sustained and meaningful community engagement – which is why she is also the SOMA Community Engagement Coordinator! In this role she hopes to raise the profile of musculoskeletal health research within the graduate student community and beyond. Penny’s love for all things community driven doesn’t stop there – when she’s not researching in the health world she is usually searching high and low for new music to play on her weekly radio show at community radio station PBS

ANNABELLE CHOONG

Social Media and Promotions Officer

Annabelle is a University of Melbourne Honours student contributing to research that inform discussions between clinicians and patients about postoperative outcomes, recovery and mitigation of risks following joint replacement. Specifically, she is researching the sex-differences observed following
surgery including variation in pain and functional status before and after surgery and rates of infection, revision, mortality and other adverse complications.

EMMA CHOONG

Social Media and Promotions Officer

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