Volker Musahl, visiting professor of orthopedics at Sahlgrenska Academy

Musahl's special research interest is knee injuries and, in particular, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, and improving the clinical outcome for patients with these injuries. He is also interested in objective outcome measures for ACL injuries, and has evaluated the pivot shift test, an objective test for assessing rotational instability in the knee. In this research field, he has also lectured internationally and received several awards for his research (see fact box). His results have culminated in several awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Major boon to both research and education

“Since July 11th, 2021, Volker Musahl has held a 20 percent position as visiting professor in the subject area of ​​orthopedics at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg. He’ll be a great addition to research and development at our unit,” says Jon Karlsson, senior researcher in the orthopedics subject area at Sahlgrenska Academy.

Volker Musahl is a senior member of the Faculty and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. He is strongly committed to patient centered care, teaching and basic science in clinical research. With over 350 published articles and more than 10,000 citations, he is an orthopedist of international repute. Through his involvement in the University of Pittsburgh Sports Medicine Fellowship and international societies, he is also a lecturer of world renown. Throughout his orthopedics career, he has continued to develop into the leading figure in orthopedics and sports medicine he is today.

Skilled clinician and resource for international football clubs

“He’s been involved in teaching and supervision since his postdoc in 2000. He has supervised over 50 medical students in the research laboratory, and is currently the supervisor for 10 doctoral students at the University of Pittsburgh and 2 at the University of Gothenburg. He has created a rigorous academic lecture series for the sports medicine curriculum and is the academic leader of a structured teaching program, Phychomotor Skills Lab, where he teaches and supervises surgical training of younger colleagues in the operating room,” Karlsson says.

Volker Musahl is a talented clinician who has featured in Pittsburgh Magazine’s Top Doctors in Pittsburgh” list several times, and consistently received the top rating for patient satisfaction. He also has close ties with many European professional football clubs, and was appointed Medical Director of International Sports Medicine in 2021 at UPMC (the name “University of Pittsburgh Medical Center” was adopted 1990). UPMC is recognized as one of the leading institutions in the world for orthopedic and sports medicine research, not least regarding anterior cruciate ligaments.

Since 2011, Volker Musahl and Jon Karlsson have established a close research collaboration. It has resulted in a total of 9 PhD students in Gothenburg and 2 in the U.S., and generated more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, 15 book chapters, 4 textbooks and a multinational research collaboration, Prospective International Validation of Outcome Technology (PIVOT) in ACL surgery.

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Three brief questions to Volker Musahl

1.  What are you looking forward to in the near future with us?

“It’s been superb working with Professor Karlsson and his team for the past 10 years, and we’ve become great friends. Our collaboration has been rewarding, resulting in many grants, books and peer-reviewed publications. Most important are all the students from Sahlgrenska Academy that I’ve met during these years. It feels like a huge privilege to have been involved in their doctoral education. So I look forward to going on with this collaboration, and learning more about the subject area of orthopedics at Sahlgrenska Academy.”

2.  What experience are you hoping to gain from your stay as visiting professor?

“Learning more about the courses and the doctoral process will give me pleasure. I’ve very much enjoyed seeing previous students’ success, and seeing them grow. Kristian Samuelsson, the orthopedics professor, is a good example of a successful European head of research from Sahlgrenska Academy.”

3. What are you initially going to focus on as visiting professor here?

“My focus will be on assisting in various types of education where I can be useful, and we’re going to establish student exchange with Pittsburgh more formally. I’ve already had lots of discussions with Kristian Samuelsson and also Eric Hamrin Senorski, associate professor of physiotherapy at the Academy, who is a Pittsburgh alumnus. I also look forward to seeing Sahlgrenska’s Department of Orthopedics strengthen its presence in ESSKA, the European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery & Arthroscopy.”

Text: Jon Karlsson och Susanne Westergren