Rate My Professor Gary Hooper

Professor Gary Hooper is Professor and Head of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Faculty of Medicine. He graduated with MBChB from the University of Otago in 1978, became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in 1985, holds an MD, and is a Fellow of the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association (FRNZOA). In 1990, he served as an ABC Travelling Fellow. His clinical practice centers on adult elective surgery, with a primary focus on joint replacement surgery. Professional interests include knee injuries, joint replacement, rehabilitation following surgery, the impact of training on patient outcomes, regenerative medicine in orthopaedics, and assessing outcomes following joint replacement.

Hooper leads a research group dedicated to improving outcomes after joint replacement through clinical trials and studies on bone metabolism and musculoskeletal bioengineering. Key research areas encompass the wear of highly cross-linked polyethylene in hip replacements, metal ion production in hard-on-hard bearing surfaces, long-term outcomes of unicompartmental knee replacements, acoustic monitoring of failing joint replacements, the use of larger femoral heads in hip replacement, implications of increased BMI on outcomes, bone density changes around implants, New Zealand Joint Registry outcomes, re-integration into society for multiple trauma patients including earthquake victims, improving fracture healing rates for neck of femur and tibial shaft fractures, and developing cartilage scaffolds and titanium implants for bone deficits. His department manages the New Zealand Joint Registry, the first to generate long-term patient-reported outcome measures. Notable publications include "Long-term outcomes of the cementless Oxford unicompartmental knee replacement: A 16-year follow-up study" (Bone & Joint Open, 2026), "Uncemented Oxford mobile-bearing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty demonstrates superior long-term implant survival compared to cemented fixation in patients under 60 years" (Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, 2025), "Do the long-term functional outcomes and revision rates of total hip arthroplasty in obese and morbidly obese patients justify restricting their access to surgery?" (Journal of Arthroplasty, 2025), and "Associations between pain, function and quality of life after total hip arthroplasty" (2024). With over 7,700 citations, his contributions influence orthopaedic care and education; in 2019, he received the Best Consultant Teacher award from the Christchurch Medical Students' Association.