Clinical Faculty
Professor George A. Murrell
MD (UNSW), PhD (Oxon)
Director
Professor George Murrell was appointed Director of Orthopaedic Surgery at St George Hospital in September 1995. He graduated from Adelaide University and was the 1984 South Australian Rhodes Scholar and a State and Australian University Triple Jump Champion. At Oxford he gained blues in athletics, completed a DPhil (PhD) thesis on "Dupuytren's Contracture" and was awarded the Royal College of Surgeons Arris and Gale medal for this work. He then spent a year in Cambridge teaching anatomy and rowing for Gonville and Caius 1st VIII.
Professor Murrell completed his orthopaedic training at Duke University, USA and a two year fellowship in sports medicine and shoulder surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York. During this time he gained a National Institutes of Health First Award, an American Orthopaedic Association North American Travelling Fellowship and was a team physician for the New York Giants.
Professor Murrell is Chief of the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service and Director of the Orthopaedic Research Institute. He specialises in shoulder surgery and has a special interest in arthroscopic methods to repair and restore damaged ligaments and tendons. His basic research interests include the role of free radicals, especially nitric oxide in the musculoskeletal system.
- T: +61 2 9113-2827
- W: georgemurrellshoulders.com.au
- E: murrell.g@ori.org.au
- Publications
Dr Ashish Diwan
MBBS, DipNB (Ortho), PhD(UNSW)
Director, Bone Biology
Dr Ashish Diwan is the director of Bone Biology at the Orthopaedic Research Institute, St George Hospital. Following his basic orthopaedic surgical training at St George Hospital he received training in advanced spinal surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) at Cornell University in New York City, the oldest and largest orthopaedic hospital in the USA. During his stay at HSS, Dr Diwan was awarded the Philip D. Wilson Award and the National Orthopaedic Surgery Fellows Foundation Award for outstanding achievements in the field of orthopaedic surgery. He was subsequently awarded the Merrill Lynch Innovation Award in 2000.
Dr Diwan specialises in surgery for degenerative disorders of the spine and in spinal deformities (scoliosis and kyphosis). His expertise includes minimally invasive intradiscal treatments, microscopic spinal decompression, spinal stabilisation using computer-aided-guidance, anterior and posterior surgery for adult spinal deformity.
Dr Diwan’s research interests include the molecular regulation of fracture repair and intervertebral disc regeneration. For patient related enquiries:
- Suite 16, Level 5, St George Private Hospital
- 1 South Street Kogarah
- T:(02) 8566 7166
- F: (02) 85667177
- E: info@spine-service.org
Professor Ian Harris
MBBS, FRACS(Orth), FAOrthA, MMed (Clin Epid), PhD
Professor Harris is the Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the South West Sydney Clinical School of the University of New South Wales and the Director of Orthopaedic Surgery at Liverpool Hospital. He also holds visiting appointments at St George Hospital, Sutherland Hospital and St George Private Hospital. He is a medical graduate of the University of New South Wales and completed his orthopaedic surgical training with the Australian Orthopaedic Association in 1995, when he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
He underwent further training in orthopaedic surgery in the Klinikum rechts der Isar in Munich, and completed a 12 month Orthopaedic Trauma Fellowship at the R Adams Cowley ShockTrauma Centre in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
He holds a Master of Medicine in Clinical Epidemiology and a PhD in Surgery, both from the University of Sydney. He is a member of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Professor Harris's research interests include surgical outcomes (such as predictors of general health, surgical success, and patient satisfaction), epidemiology, medicalisation, and research methodology. Professor Harris has published extensively and lectures nationally and internationally on orthopaedics and evidence based medicine.
Liverpool: Orthopaedic Department, Level 1, New Clinical Building, Liverpool Hospital
- T: +61-2 8738-3898
- F: +61-2 8738-3884
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- Hurstville: The Old Fire Station, 78/23-27 MacMahon St.
- T: +61-2 9570-1412
- F: +61-2 9570-1405
Dr Hugh Jones
MBBS, FRACS
Dr Hugh Jones graduated from Adelaide University in 1989. Following completion of his Orthopaedic training in 1998. Dr Jones travelled overseas to obtain further training in sports and shoulder surgery.
He spent 12 months at Boston University Medical Center and the Lahey Clinic, Boston, MA , USA, as a clinical fellow. During this time, Dr Jones trained in the latest arthroscopic knee and shoulder techniques, including meniscal allografts, chondral repair and thermal collagen shrinkage.
Dr Jones has published several papers in international orthopaedic journals and has a strong interest in teaching and research.
His current research interests include allograft use in knee reconstruction, biomechanics of acromioclavicular joint reconstruction and autologous chondrocyte culture/re-implantation.
Dr Robert Molnar
MBBS BSc (Med) FRACS (Orth)
Dr Molnar studied medicine at the University of New South Wales, graduating in 1995. He completed his orthopaedic training in Orthopaedic Trauma at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, USA. Dr Molnar then went on to complete fellowship training in lower exremity reconstructive surgery in hip and knee arthroplasty and arthroscopy.
He specialises in pelvic and lower extremity trauma and his special interests are hip and knee reconstructive procedures and replacements, using minimally invasive techniques combined with computer navigation.
He operates at Castle Hill Day Surgery, St George, Sutherland and Westmead Public Hospitals, as well as St George Private Hospital.
Dr Zoltan Szomor
MD, PhD, FRACS, FA(Orth)
Director of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery
Dr Zoltan Szomor completed his training with the Australian Orthopaedic Association Training Program. He is a Fellow of The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and completed a PhD Degree in shoulder rotator cuff pathology at the University of New South Wales. He also completed an 18 month fellowship at Kyoto University, Japan, focusing on arthroplasty and cartilage research, and a fellowship on Shoulder and Sports Surgery in Sydney.
He is currently a Conjoint Associate Professor at the UNSW and the Medical Director of the NSW Bone Bank.
Dr Szomor has published several papers in international journals and is currently involved in research projects related to bone and tissue banking. He also enjoys undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
Dr Szomor’s main clinical interest and experience extend to knee surgery and arthroplasty, shoulder and trauma surgery. Dr Szomor has affiliations with St George and Sutherland Hospitals, St George Private and Hurstville Community Private Hospitals.
Dr Geoffrey CS Smith
MBChB MRCS (Ed) FRACS (Orth) FAOrthA
Dr Smith is an orthopaedic surgeon specialising in shoulder and elbow surgery.
Dr Smith obtained his medical degree at the University of Leeds, UK and began surgical training in Edinburgh receiving membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2001. He migrated to Australia in 2002 and completed Advanced Orthopaedic Training being awarded Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2010. In 2011 he was the Shoulder and Elbow Fellow at the Royal North Shore Hospital before returning to the UK for the Shoulder and Elbow Fellowship at the Avon Orthopaedic Centre and the Elbow and Upper Limb Fellowship at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. In 2014 he was elected a member of the Shoulder and Elbow Society of Australia.
Dr Smith's research include the biomechanics of rotator cuff repair, reverse shoulder arthroplasty and elbow hemiarthroplasty.
Associate Professor Sam Adie
A/Prof. Sam Adie is an academic orthopaedic surgeon providing care in the St. George, Sutherland Shire, and Macquarie Park regions. A/Prof. Sam Adie graduated with Honours from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and completed his orthopaedic training in Sydney followed by three clinical Fellowships at the Universities of Toronto (Canada), Oxford (UK) and Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Australian Orthopaedic Association. Sam holds two Masters degrees and a PhD from UNSW. As of 2023, he has published 85 papers in high level medical and surgical journals, and won multiple awards with competitive funding of >$5million for his research into joint replacement and orthopaedic trauma. At only 38, he was appointed Associate Professor at UNSW. He currently supervises several PhD/Masters students. He is also an orthopaedic trauma surgeon at St George Hospital, a Level 1 trauma centre where he is often referred complex cases from across the state.
A/Prof. Adie's specialist clinical interests include hip and knee replacement (including primary and complex revision surgery), computer navigated and robotic joint replacement, arthroscopic knee surgery/ligament reconstruction, sports injuries and orthopaedic trauma/fracture management. A/Prof. Adie's academic interests include clinical effectiveness research (randomised trials and systematic reviews) and is currently leading a series of clinical trials to improve the care of joint replacement and trauma patients.
Dr Michael Symes
Dr Michael Symes is an Orthopaedic Surgeon with a subspecialty interest in foot and ankle surgery as well lower limb trauma. Dr Symes completed his general orthopaedic training in Australia, before undertaking subspecialty training in Canada, the USA and Australia. He has also completed subspecialty training in deformity correction and reconstruction for neuromuscular and spasticity related disorders.
Dr Symes is a current Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Australian Orthopaedic Association, and an international member of the American and Canadian Foot and Ankles Societies. He graduated with honours from the University of Sydney Medical Program in 2009 and was awarded the university medal for his physiotherapy degree at the University of Sydney in 2005. He is actively involved in clinical research with numerous international publications and presentations and he completed his Masters of Public Health in 2018. He is also a conjoint senior lecturer with the University of New South Wales. Dr Symes is married with a young family and keeps active, playing golf and cycling