Denise O'Connor

This PhD scholarship sits within Monash University’s evidence-based rheumatology research environment and the Australian and New Zealand Musculoskeletal Clinical Trials Network (ANZMUSC). The project focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of living clinical practice guidelines in rheumatology, an area that aims to keep recommendations current through continuous evidence surveillance, systematic reviewing, GRADE methodology, and digital guideline platforms. The successful candidate will contribute to internationally recognised living guidelines, including work connected to inflammatory arthritis, and will undertake original research shaped in consultation with the supervisory team. Possible research directions include living evidence synthesis methods, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, translation of evidence into recommendations, use of Evidence-to-Decision frameworks, evaluation of digital guideline platforms such as MAGICapp, implementation science, knowledge translation, and assessing how guideline recommendations influence clinical practice and patient care. The student will work alongside an experienced multidisciplinary team that includes evidence synthesis specialists, guideline developers, clinicians, statisticians, librarians, and consumer representatives. The broader research setting is collaborative and international in scope, with opportunities to publish, present at conferences, and engage in methodological research across a network of researchers, clinicians, consumers, and policymakers. Supervision is provided by Professor Rachelle Buchbinder, Dr Samuel Whittle, and Professor Denise O’Connor. The post is based at Monash University in Melbourne, with flexible arrangements allowing many parts of the research to be undertaken remotely.