Mr. Andrew Wallace Consultant Shoulder Surgeon

Andrew Lachlan Wallace graduated from medical school at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia in 1987, having descended from a long line of carpenters, engineers and shipbuilders from Scotland, Ireland and England on both sides of his family. Like many young Australians, following graduation he spent time abroad, undertaking postgraduate research in bone healing leading to a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, and gaining invaluable clinical experience in orthopaedic trauma management. During his time in Scotland he also obtained a postgraduate Diploma in Biomechanics from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, where the campus is located not far from the shores of the Clyde where his shipbuilding grandfather took the decision to emigrate to Australia in 1923.

He returned to Sydney in 1992 to complete his orthopaedic training and was inspired to pursue surgery of the shoulder under the mentorship of Professor David Sonnabend, pioneer of the emerging specialty in Australia. He was awarded Fellowship in Orthopaedic Surgery from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1997 and became a Fellow of the Australian Orthopaedic Association in 2000. After further specialty training and research in Sydney, he spent a year in Calgary, Canada, with the late Professor Cyril Frank and Dr Robert Hollinshead, developing an interest in basic science aspects of soft tissue healing, and the relationship of shoulder instability to arthritis. After the inauguration of the new medical school at imperial College London in 1997, he was recruited as Senior Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Surgery at Imperial in 1999 and worked in the NHS as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Charing Cross Hospital and St Mary's Hospital. During his academic career at Imperial he worked closely with Professors Andrew Amis and Anthony Bull in the Department of Bioengineering and supervised numerous postgraduate degree students.

His major clinical interest is in the field of shoulder surgery, particularly the development of arthroscopic techniques for minimally-invasive reconstruction. In addition to an interest in sports injuries he also undertakes shoulder joint replacement. He has been the principal orthopaedic shoulder surgeon to professional rugby clubs in the south of England and to the English Rugby Football Union, and has treated elite athletes from Premiership and international football clubs, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Board of Cricket Control for India, the Indian Premier League, the British Olympic Association, and the English Institute of Sport.

He has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications on the biology and mechanics of bone and soft connective tissues, particularly ligament and tendon, and development of novel methods of joint stabilisation for prevention of degenerative joint disease. In 2002 he was the Travelling Fellow of the European Society for Surgery of the Shoulder and Elbow (SECEC) to the USA, and has served on the SECEC Research Committee. He has also served on the Education Committee of the British Elbow and Shoulder Society (BESS) and is a corresponding member of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons. He has acted as reviewer for the journals Arthroscopy, Shoulder and Elbow, The Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and the Bone and Joint Journal.

In 2003 he established the Watanabe Club, a group of shoulder arthroscopists dedicated to the promotion and teaching of arthroscopic shoulder surgery, which has recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary and comprises a faculty of over 40 teaching members, having trained over 3000 surgeons. In 2009 he was elected to Membership of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine in the United Kingdom, and also elected to Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. In 2012 he was selected as the lead shoulder surgeon for the London Olympic Games. In recognition of his contribution to sports medicine, in 2018 he was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Sports Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland.

In 2011 he and a small group of like-minded colleagues co- founded the Fortius Clinic as the first, and now the largest, multi-specialty dedicated clinic for musculoskeletal medicine and surgery in the United Kingdom. Over the last 25 years, he has treated over 25,000 patients in private practice and annually performs over 300 operative procedures. Patients from the UK and abroad value his vast experience, discretion and direct, practical approach to solving shoulder problems. From initial assessment, precise diagnosis to treatment, including non-operative options and surgery where required, he is able is to deliver pain relief, improved function, enhanced quality of life and a consistent return to pre-injury performance.

During the Covid pandemic he completed an MA in the History of the English Country House (1485-1945) at the University of Buckingham, graduating with Merit in 2021. He maintains interests in history, antiquarian books, skiing, motorcycling, horse riding and scuba diving, as well as in the family cattle property near Gloucester in rural New South Wales, Australia.