Professor Mellick Chehade is an academic orthopaedic trauma surgeon, researcher and educator at the University of Adelaide. Having transitioned from operative clinical practice, his work now focuses on research, education, health-system improvement and the development of patient-centred models of care. He has longstanding interests in musculoskeletal health, trauma, osteoporosis, hip fracture, frailty, healthy ageing and patient agency.
He was a Chief Investigator in the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Frailty and Healthy Ageing, which has now completed its funded program. Building on this work, his current research increasingly focuses on the strategic integration of digital health, artificial intelligence and online education to improve personalised, integrated care for people living with multimorbidity. A major component of this program is the co-design, with patients, carers and health professionals, of a personal digital health hub that applies contemporary educational, behavioural and technological principles to support engagement, coordination of care and individual agency.
In education, Professor Chehade established the Australian Musculoskeletal Education Collaboration and led the development of a comprehensive health competency framework. This work has informed musculoskeletal and broader health-professional education initiatives nationally and internationally, including contributions to the World Health Organization’s Universal Health and Preparedness Review workforce competency framework. He currently chairs the Education Task Force of the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health, leading international work to develop accessible online education resources and strengthen the capacity of the health workforce to address the growing global burden of musculoskeletal conditions.
Professor Chehade has made substantial contributions to osteoporosis, hip-fracture care and the management of older people living with frailty. He previously served on the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board of Osteoporosis Australia and has been a member of the Australian and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry Steering Group. Through this work, he contributed to the development and implementation of national hip-fracture guidelines, clinical care standards and quality-improvement initiatives.
The virtual hip-fracture follow-up service he established in Adelaide in 2011 was an early telehealth innovation and supported a large prospective observational cohort study incorporating patient-reported outcome measures. This service subsequently informed the development of a virtual fracture liaison model and the proposed role of a Telehealth Liaison Carer within the personal digital health hub. The model provides a research and development framework for specialised virtual care pathways that combine patient education, care coordination, monitoring and personalised support across a range of chronic and complex health conditions.