About
Professor Perry is a NIHR Research Professor with the UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and a consultant children's orthopaedic surgeon.
He performs surgery at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. His clinical focus is in paediatric hip diseases and trauma - with Perthes' disease, Slipped Epiphysis and Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) as key interests.
Professor Perry’s major research interests are in effectiveness research and innovation.
CLINICAL TRIALS - He has a portfolio of international clinical trials. He has over >£30m (USD $40 million) in research income, including as Chief Investigator on the NIHR British Orthopaedic Surgery Surveillance (BOSS) Study (Paediatric Hip Disease), NIHR FORCE Study (Simple Wrist Fractures), NIHR SCIENCE Study (Medial Epicondyle Fractures), NIHR CRAFFT Study (Severe Wrist Fractures), NIHR BigBOSS Study (Hip Disease), NIHR BASIS Study (Scoliosis) and the NIHR Odd SOCKS Study (Ankle Fractures). He is currently working Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago (USA) to reproduce the UK studies throughout North America, with an NIH R01 grant recently awarded.
INNOVATION – He works in collaboration with engineers and industry to develop new diagnostic tools; examples include the identification and monitoring of hip migration amongst children with Cerebral Palsy (Manchester University), and the detection of hip dysplasia amongst babies (Oxford University, Liverpool John Moores University and Industry).
RESEARCH PROFESSORSHIP – Professor Perry is the first orthopaedic surgeon to have been awarded a prestigious NIHR Research Professorship. The focus is to develop a nationwide platform trial to optimise the detection and treatment of developmental hip dysplasia amongst babies – thereby combining his passion for both clinical trials and innovation.
CLINICAL WORK - He works at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and specialises in Children’s Hip Disease and Trauma. He trained in Liverpool and Warwick, before completing a fellowship at SickKids Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
OUTPUTS - He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers – including in original research articles in the Lancet, JAMA and BMJ. For his research has been awarded both the Hunterian Professorship by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Robert Jones Gold Medal from the British Orthopaedic Association and an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
PATIENT INVOLVEMENT – Professor Perry has a thriving group of children and families who contribute to his research by advising on the design and conduct of studies. With this group, he has developed the way that research materials are delivered to families – with cartoons now playing a central feature in how studies are explained to families, and how the results are disseminated - i.e. www.FORCEstudy.org
RESEARCH STUDENTS AND STAFF - Dan supervises several PhD students, and works with a broad team of biostatisticians, health economists, trial managers, data specialists and engineers.
EXTERNAL ROLES - He is Associate Editor of the Bone and Joint Journal and Chairs the research committee of BSCOS (British Society for Children's Orthopaedic Surgery). He has been appointed as ‘National Specialty Lead for Orthopaedic Clinical Trials’ by the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSEng), and was awarded the 2022 “American British-Canadian (ABC)” Travelling Fellowship. He also sits on the research committee of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) and the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society (EPOS). Within NIHR, Professor Perry has previously spent 5 years on the NIHR HTA Commissioning Funding Committee and currently sits on the NIHR Leadership Awards committee for NIHR Academy.
A full list of active study websites is housed at www.TOTSresearch.org. Individual websites are here:
www.FORCEstudy.org
www.CRAFFTstudy.org
www.SCIENCEstudy.org
www.BASISstudy.org
www.ODDsocks.org
www.BigBOSSstudy.org
www.PICbone.com
See his online teaching and videos:
https://vimeo.com/user68840692
Prizes or Honours
- FRCS (Ad Hominem) (Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 2024)
- Hunterian Professor (Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2013)
- Robert Jones Gold Medal & Association Prize (British Orthopaedic Association , 2012)
- John Sharrard Prize (European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society (EPOS), 2012)
Funded Fellowships
- NIHR Clinician Scientist (National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), 2015 - 2020)