Who We Are
The Foundation
The Bone Health Foundation is a not for profit organisation that raises money for education and research into bone health and musculoskeletal conditions that affect Australian’s of all ages. The Foundation receives no government funding. Established in Adelaide in 1991, the Foundation has raised and invested in excess of $2.5 million into Australian based research and education projects to improve the bone health and wellbeing of all those affected by poor bone health.
A recent study funded by the Bone Health Foundation has exposed an increase in the late diagnosis of ‘clicky hips’ in babies requiring surgery and a lengthy recovery process. We are now working with the Women’s and Children’s hospital in Adelaide to fund clinics and provide nurse education to assist with early diagnosis and treatment for this debilitating disorder.
The Foundation is similarly focused on educating the community about bone health, most specifically around prevention. An alarming 1 in 3 women over the age of 50 will experience osteoporotic fractures. A lesser known fact is it also affects 1 in 5 men over 50. This obviously has a huge impact on the health case system and in many cases changes in behavior from an early age could have prevented these fractures and falls.
We can’t do this without fundraising events and our Corporate sponsors, as we rely on their support to fund this important research as well as to provide educational programmes.
Our Team
As the Bone Health Foundation is a not for profit oganisation, we are governed by Board of Directors who generously volunteer their time.
Marc Romaldi – Chair
Marc is a director at WRP Legal & Advisory, specializing in tax and commercial law.
He was inspired to join the foundation after seeing the efforts of the former Chair and other board members to help people with bone health issues, which are often invisible to the eye and therefore often overlooked in the community. It was also one of the few charities that he had come across which had a clear purpose for the funds it has raised.
A board member since 2010 Marc is indefatigable in supporting the Foundation through providing sound advice relating to the governance and taxation and asking many of the hard questions
Ryan Kinghorn – Secretary
Ryan joined the Bone Health Board in 2013. His experience across multiple commercial industries, both domestically and globally and a successful charity involvement, provide Bone Health with an individual whose intention is to make change and have a positive impact on people’s lives.
Joanna Cook - Treasurer
Joanna has a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) degree and has over 20 years of experience in marketing and client management. She joined the Bone Health Foundation in 2009 and served as CEO until 2015. In 2014 she became a valued member of the Foundation Board.
Working across all areas of the business including Marketing, sponsorship, education and research platforms. Joanna also has a strong background in fundraising and fundraising management. Her role sees her working closely with all stakeholders of the Foundation to ensure that all activities are in line with the Foundation’s objectives and goals.
Paul Anderson
Paul is Deputy-Director of Health and Biomedical Innovation at University of South Australia, member of the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society and the Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA). Paul’s research focuses preventing bone diseases such as rickets, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis as well developing new orthopaedic devices for hip replacement and fracture repair.
Research Advisory Panel
Bone Research is a core objective of the Foundation’s mission to help prevent bone disease which impacts the lives of young and old.
All grant applications are independently assessed by the Foundation’s Research Advisory Panel (RAP), which provides recommendations to the Foundation’s Board about the most appropriate submissions to fund and to what extent.
Dr Agnes Arthur
Dr Arthur leads the Musculoskeletal Cellular Communication (MCC) research group within the Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC) Laboratory. Her group is interested in understanding the communication between MSC and their surrounding microenvironment. This communication is important during (1) bone remodelling, (2) bone disease and (3) repair following trauma. The research focuses on the function of a family of receptor tyrosine kinase molecules. This approach could potentially translate into alternative therapeutic treatments for patients with osteoporosis, to prevent fractures in high risk groups.
Associate Professor Tania Crotti
Associate Professor Tania Crotti is a research academic in the School of Biomedicine at The University of Adelaide. In 2002 A/Prof. Crotti completed her PhD on the mechanisms responsible for pathological bone remodeling in inflammatory conditions (funded by a Dora Lush, NHMRC Scolarship).
A/Prof. Crotti subsequently worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston USA 2003-2008.
A/Prof. Crotti returned to Adelaide during 2008 to continue her work in the emerging field of Osteoimmunology. Her main research focus is to unravel the mediators of osteoclast differentiation and activation in order to arrest the localized bone loss
Professor Cory Xian
Cory is interested in tissue growth and injury repair research. He leads the Bone Growth and Repair Research Group at University of South Australia. He is established as a leading researcher in paediatric bone biology and cancer chemotherapy-induced bone defects. He has more than 170 publications. Cory is Managing Editor for Frontiers in Bioscience, Guest Editor for Journal of Molecular Endocrinolology, Guest Editor for International Journal of Endocrinology, and is an editorial board member for 8 other journals including Scientific Reports.
Associate Professor Egon Perilli
Associate Professor Egon Perilli, Medical Device Research Institute, Flinders University; Affiliate Lecturer, Discipline of Anatomy & Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide; Honorary Fellow, Dept. of Medicine, Austin Health, The University of Melbourne. Between 2008-2011: Senior Research Fellow, Bone & Joint Research Lab, Surgical Pathology, SA Pathology, Adelaide. His research is in 2D and 3D quantitative imaging of bone structure and biomaterials combined with biomechanical testing. The main field of research is in osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
He is the current President (2018-2021) of the Australian & New Zealand Orthopaedic Research Society (ANZORS)
Dr Tiffany Gill
Dr Tiffany Gill is a Senior Research Fellow in the Adelaide Medical School at the University of Adelaide. Between 2011 and 2015 she was an NHMRC Early Career Fellow focusing on epidemiological issues and health system impacts (including costs) of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions (particularly osteoarthritis (OA), osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)) within Australia
Tiffany is passionate about addressing the impact of musculoskeletal conditions on the population and the translation of research findings to the population. Tiffany's research continues to aim to increase population awareness and the focus of policy makers on the epidemiological, health economics and population effects of musculoskeletal disorders in the population