Professor Mohamed Imam

Professor Imam is a fellowship-trained consultant in Orthopaedic Surgery specialising in upper limb surgery, sports injuries, and complex trauma.

After completing specialist training, Prof. Imam undertook international and national upper limb fellowships at distinguished centres of excellence. These included specialist upper limb fellowships at three internationally recognised units within the UK: the Wrightington Upper Limb Unit, the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital and the renowned Rowley Bristow Orthopaedic Unit Chertsey, Surrey, where he currently works as a substantive consultant. He also undertook a complex trauma fellowship in Oxford. Moreover, he undertook international fellowships, including a fellowship with Professor Christian Gerber, the world-leading pioneer of modern shoulder surgery, at Der Balgrist University Orthopaedic Centre of excellence in Zurich, Switzerland, and a complex trauma fellowship in the BGU Trauma centre in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Additionally, he undertook travelling fellowships to gain up-to-date international experience in Mayo Clinic, The Steadman clinic (US Olympic team centre of excellence) and Stanford University, and other centres in Europe. 

Prof. Imam was awarded multiple distinctive international awards and travelling fellowships from the NHS Academy, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA), International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS), European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT), International Trauma Foundation (AO) and others. He had a fellowship in orthopaedic and trauma surgery presented to him by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. He has completed two Degree level theses, including a PhD on the healing of rotator cuff tendons, tears and shoulder biomechanics and successfully filed patents. He serves as a professor at the University of East London, leading research on the clinical applications of artificial intelligence and virtual reality in surgery. He is a co-founder of multiple national and international initiatives. He is the chief investigator leading national and international studies answering many questions in trauma and Orthopaedics. Professor Imam performs major shoulder tendon repair, reconstruction surgery, tendon transfers, joint preservation, joint replacement, cartilage regeneration, and tendon degeneration and tears. He undertakes modern Joint replacement surgery of the upper limb in patients with advanced arthritis where joint preservation is impossible. He specialises in arthroscopic (keyhole) surgery to treat many conditions such as rotator cuff tears, frozen shoulder, tendonitis, recurrent dislocations, biceps injury, tennis elbow, stiff elbow, wrist problems and arthritis. He offers total and partial replacement of the joints, including computer navigation and bespoke shape-matched surgery. He operates, using evidence-based practice, on different pathologies in the upper limb. He developed various techniques and modified others that he learned from different pioneers during his fellowships. His practice's ethos is to provide high-quality, patient-centred care while tailoring each patient's treatment based on the best available evidence, including surgical or non-operative treatment; he is competent in all aspects of upper limb surgery.

Professor Imam is heavily involved in research, having published over 70 peer-reviewed publications in top international medical journals and written more than 12 textbook chapters on upper limb injuries. He has authored two books, one on the uses of stem cells in orthopaedics and another reference atlas in shoulder arthroscopy. He regularly presents his research at various national and international meetings. He uses the latest technology in diagnosing different upper limb pathologies; he is currently researching, with an elite team of researchers, how to augment artificial and machine intelligence in surgery. His current research interests include novel materials, the use of stem cells for cartilage and tendon repair, bone marrow concentrate, platelet-rich plasma, ligament and cartilage regeneration-optimising outcomes after total joint replacements, minimally invasive fracture fixation devices, arthroscopy outcomes, bone healing and techniques to aid rapid return to sport after injury. He has designed orthopaedic instruments designed and has published more than ten novel surgical procedures. He has published seminal papers in most of these pathologies cited by other academics hundreds of times. 

Professor Imam is a speaker at academic and social platforms at national and international levels, advocating for patient-centred and value-based healthcare. He regularly speaks at conferences worldwide on artificial intelligence in surgery, bone preservation, and other regenerative and innovative techniques. In trauma surgery, he utilises an evidence-based approach to achieve the best outcomes for his patients. He believes in and promotes an evidence-based and multi-disciplinary approach towards the management of his patients. He provides both surgical and non-surgical treatment for conditions affecting the upper limb and sports injuries. He works very closely with a dedicated specialist team of Radiologists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Hand Therapists, and Anaesthetists specialised in Regional Nerve Blocks.