A/Prof Stephanie Filbay named a 2024 Vic Young Tall Poppy

The annual Young Tall Poppy Science awards is an initiative of the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS), aimed at recognising and celebrating achievements and excellence in research made by early career scientists in Australia who promote science across teaching and learning and spread this enthusiasm to the broader community.

Stephanie is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, Dame Kate Campbell Fellow and Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine in the Department of Physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne. Drawing from her own experience with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and extensive research in the field, Stephanie is recognised for her evidence-based management and non-surgical treatment of ACL injuries, as well as improving quality of life for young adults at risk of knee osteoarthritis after ACL injury.

Stephanie and her team’s research has found that ACL injuries can heal without surgery. 1 in 3 people with a completely torn ACL who were treated with non-surgical rehabilitation had ACL healing on MRI two years later, and importantly those with ACL healing had better outcomes than those who had surgery. They also investigated a novel bracing treatment to hold the knee at a right-angle to improve healing of the torn ACL ends, finding that 90% of people with complete ACL tears had ACL healing in 3 months using this bracing technique.