Justin Cobb

Justin Peter Cobb is a British professor of orthopaedic surgery at Imperial College London, known for introducing medical robotics into orthopaedic surgery. He is a member of the Royal Medical Household and is royal orthopaedic surgeon to the King. He is on the staff at King Edward VII's Hospital (KEVII) and is civilian advisor in orthopaedics to the Royal Air Force (RAF). His research has also included themes relating to designing new devices such as for ceramic hip resurfacing, 3D printing in orthopaedics, and training in surgical skills. He is a director of the MSk laboratory based in the Sir Michael Uren Hub.

Cobb was a demy at Magdalen College, Oxford, from where he graduated in 1982. He completed his early surgical training at St Thomas' Hospital, The Middlesex and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH). In 1991 he was appointed consultant at The Middlesex and University College Hospital (UCH), and worked at the London Bone Tumour Unit, and in trauma and general orthopaedics. He is a recipient of the Hunterian Professorship, awarded for his work on surgery and osteosarcoma. Together with engineer Brian Davies from Imperial, he developed the world's first haptic based robotic assistant known as 'Acrobot', used to assist in knee surgery.

In 1999 he operated on the wounded following the London nail bombings, and he treated the injured following the 2005 attacks in London.

Education and training

Justin Cobb was a demy at Magdalen College, Oxford, from where he graduated in 1982. He moved to London as a senior house officer in 1984, and completed his junior surgical training before rotating through orthopaedic firms at St Thomas', The Middlesex and the RNOH, including working for Sir Rodney Sweetnam in 1985. At the RNOH, as orthopaedic registrar, his work with Gordon Blunn and Peter Walker in the Biomedical Engineering Unit, led to being awarded the Hunterian Professorship. He completed his master's in 1991 with a thesis titled "Prognostic factors in operable osteosarcoma".

Surgical career In 1991 Cobb was appointed consultant at The Middlesex and UCH, and worked at the London Bone Tumour Unit, and in trauma and general orthopaedics. In 1992, he delivered the Hunterian oration. In 1999 they co-founded the spinout 'Acrobot'. Cobb operated with the robot first in 2000. Acrobot was originally designed to be used in total knee replacement surgery with application for use in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA). It allowed the surgeon to stay in touch with the patient and control the cutting tool at the same time as moving the robotic arm. It showed that the tactile-guided robot-assisted UKA was more precise than the traditional manually performed UKA. 3D printing to allow a minimally invasive joint preservation surgery, training in surgical skills, and looking at the impact of exercise, disability and drugs on bone health and material properties. He was appointed chair of orthopaedics at Imperial College London in 2005.

MSk laboratory

Cobb is credited for developing the MSk laboratory at Imperial's Charing Cross campus, later based in the Sir Michael Uren Hub. Sir Michael Uren pledged £40m towards a building designed as a hub for scientists, engineers, clinicians and patients. It was opened in December 2020 with Cobb and Alison McGregor as the MSk Lab's directors.

Honours Cobb was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2023 New Year Honours for his services as orthopaedic surgeon to the King.

Personal and family In 1985, he married Iona, a general practitioner, and they have four children.

Selected publications Books

Articles