FROM NEPAL TO SALZBURG – A JOURNEY OF DETERMINATION & DISCOVERY TO A PhD DEGREE
Published on March 3, 2026 by Chondrometrics-admin
Congratulations to Kalpana Sharma on successfully defending her PhD thesis at Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität (PMU) Salzburg. She presented her work on March 2nd, 2026, with Marianne Hollensteiner (Biomechanik Murnau) as Chair, and Andreas Seitz (Ulm) and Bodo Kurz (Kiel) as external examiners.
Kalpana is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Anatomy (headed by Prof. Dil Mansur) at Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS), Nepal, one of PMU’s primary partner institutions. There she teaches gross anatomy, embryology, and histology to medical and health science students. .
Long before a formal PhD program existed at her institution, she was eager to pursue her doctoral studies abroad – a determination that ultimately led her to PMU where she has now completed her PhD under the mentorship of Felix Eckstein and Wolfgang Wirth, at the Research Program of Musculoskeletal Imaging, Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology.
Methodologically, Kalpana relied on previously validated Chondrometrics software to determine the 3D and 2D morphology and position of the meniscus (extrusion vs. the tibial plateau). Her PhD degree comprised three peer-reviewed publications:
Her first original paper was published in 2022:
Sharma K, Eckstein F, Wirth W, Emmanuel K: Meniscus position and size in knees with versus without structural knee osteoarthritis progression: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.
Skeletal Radiology 2022 May;51(5):997-1006. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34591163/
The second, building methodologically on the previous one, appeared in 2023 in the most highly ranked journal of osteoarthritis research:
Sharma K, Eckstein F, Maschek S, Roth M, Hunter D, Wirth W: Association of quantitative measures of medial meniscal extrusion with structural and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis progression – Data from the OAI FNIH biomarker study.
Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2023 Oct;31(10):1396-1404. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37500050/
The latter paper was conducted in the FNIH1 Biomarker Consortium Cohort, consisting of 600 Osteoarthritis Initiative participants with disease progression and non-progressive controls. Kalpana found that baseline measures of medial meniscal extrusion were consistently and positively associated with combined radiographic/symptomatic, and with isolated structural progression. However, meniscus metrics were not associated with isolated symptomatic progression. Hence, such measures could be useful to evaluate the risk of structural disease progression and monitor interventions that attempt to restore meniscus function.
Finally, as sole author, Kalpana published a comprehensive narrative review paper titled:
Quantitative meniscus imaging and analysis in Osteoarthritis Imaging (OSTIMA) Volume 5 (3), September 2025, 100358. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772654125000984
Quantitative imaging is still at its infancy. Kalpana’s review covers technical advances (image acquisition, segmentation, 3D analysis), application to healthy subjects (e.g. sex differences), correlations with radiographic (JSN) and MRI scores (MOAKS), as well as associations with anthropometric variables and knee pain. Finally, in her review she summarizes longitudinal applications of meniscus morphometry predicting combined pain/radiographic progression or knee replacement as a hard clinical outcomes.
Congratulations to your PhD, Kalpana! A great achievement and testament to your scientific curiosity, perseverance, and international collaboration.
Excitingly, Kalpana will expand her work as a postdoc, launching a “porter study” in Nepal, investigating the relationship between severe joint and structural joint health – applying the very techniques she explored during her PhD.
14 Comments
Felix Eckstein
•Congratulations, Kalpana. This is the first Nepalese PhD at Paracelsus Medical University ever. Something to be proud of, and a nice testemony of the great collaboration between KUSMS and PMU. We are also very much looking forward to the upcoming study on joint health and structural pathology in Nepalese mountain guides, porters, and sedantary controls, using AI-based quantitative imaging analysis methodology.
Kalpana Sharma
•Thank you very much
Susanne Maschek
•Congratulations, dear Kalpana! It seems like only yesterday that we discussed meniscus segmentation together. You have done a great job – my sincere appreciation.
Kalpana Sharma
•Thank you very much, Prof. Felix. I was able to complete my PhD thanks to your enormous support, guidance and encouragement throughout the entire research process.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Wolfgang, Susanne, Anna and the entire team of research program for musculoskeletal Imaging for their support and help. I am honored to be the first Nepalese to complete a PhD at PMU. Thank yo so much.
I look forward to continuing my research, particularly focusing on knee joint health in porters and trekkers in Nepal, which may help to identify the challenges of pain and disabilities associated with KOA.
Felix Eckstein
•We are proud on this achievement, and excited about the upcoming study
Ojashwi Nepal
•Many congratulations Kalpana! Of course, this marks a significant milestone and an incredible achievement along with remarkable publications in the medical field of osteoarthritis and an original knowledge production. Having a faculty member of Anatomy department at Kathmandu University School of Medical Science, Dhulikhel, Nepal completing her PhD from PMU, Salzburg, Austria is a moment of pride for all in here @ Dhulikhel, Nepal.
Kalpana Sharma
•Thank you
Tom Turmezei
•Huge congratulations, Kalpana – what an enormous achievement. It is indeed exciting to see there are plans for a follow-on study – good luck in the next stages!
Kalpana Sharma
•Thank you very much
Wolfgang Wirth
•My congratulations to Kalpana for the successful defense of her thesis! You have done a great job and I look forward to seeing you in fall!
Kalpana Sharma
•Thank you so much Wolfgang… see you
Eva Ivanov Kavkova
•Congratulations, Kalpana! That is amazing. Wishing you the best of luck with your next research project, too.
Kalpana Sharma
•Thank you very much
Jana Eder
•Congratulations, Kalpana, on this impressive achievement! A great example of how perseverance, international collaboration, and rigorous quantitative imaging research can come together. Wishing you all the best for the exciting next steps of your work.
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