Profile: A/Prof Malliaras is a physiotherapist and clinical researcher. He graduated from La Trobe University Physiotherapy School in 1996 and completed his PhD in tendinopathy in 2006. His practice focuses on the management of people with lower limb tendinopathy and he has an international reputation in this area. He has published a substantial amount of related original research (>80 publications). This research has led to changes in practice via guideline development and invited narrative clinical reviews published in high-impact clinical journals.

Research contribution: A/Prof Malliaras has been active in tendinopathy research for over 15 years. His research has been at the forefront of imaging studies that have elucidated the relationship between Doppler imaging, a marker for neurovascular ingrowth into the tendon, and pain. These studies provide mechanism for the HVI that will be tested in the proposed study. He also co-led the team that modelled the potential tissue effects for the HVI, providing additional evidence to support the use of this injection among people with Achilles tendinopathy. A focus of A/Prof Malliaras’ earlier work was understanding the significance of tendinopathy imaging findings in longitudinal studies and identification of tendinopathy risk factors, both musculoskeletal and anthropometric. This work has resulted in multiple novel and highly cited publications (e.g. four publications with >100 Google citations). A/Prof Malliaras has led or co-led several clinical trials examining the effect of exercise and other treatments (including injection treatments) in managing Achilles, patellar and rotator cuff tendinopathies. Additionally, he has published a series of systematic and mixed methods reviews synthesising evidence related to Achilles tendinopathy management that have been extensively cited (e.g. the most cited exercise review for Achilles and patellar tendinopathy in the literature). These studies and reviews have resulted in changes in practice guidelines and policy in Australia and the UK.