A Research PhD student at the Orthopaedic Hospital has been awarded a highly prestigious accolade.

Tim Hopkins was the winner of the International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society’s (ICRS) Young Investigators Award.

The award was presented to him at the 14th ICRS World Congress which was held in Macau, China in April.

Tim’s work, ‘Cartilage Repair: A Delphi Consensus Study’, was supervised by the late Professor James Richardson and Dr Jan Herman Kuiper at the Oswestry-based hospital.

The Young Investigators Award is awarded to one researcher biannually who has demonstrated dedication to cartilage regeneration research.

A Delphi consensus study is based on the results of several questionnaires being sent to a panel of experts. For this study, questionnaires were distributed amongst a panel made up of clinicians and scientists.

The questions related to cartilage repair, and factors that influence its success, following surgery such as microfracture or autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI).

Tim said: “The outcome of the study was a collection of items that were agreed upon by the panel to be important in cartilage repair. This information could now be used to guide further research and clinical practice.

“I was absolutely delighted and very surprised to receive this award. I’m extremely grateful – it means a lot to me.

“A large share of the credit lies with my supervisors; Dr Jan Herman Kuiper and the late Professor Richardson who came up with the idea to run the study at the 2016 Oswestry Cartilage Symposium which was held at RJAH.”

Karina Wright, lecturer in orthopaedics, added: “I am very proud of Tim for winning this highly prestigious award.

“He put a lot of time and hard work into the study and it’s great to see him recognised for his dedication.”