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Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is common and is one of the five leading causes of disability in Singapore; it entails significant cost to society. Singapore is one of the faster ageing populations in Asia and obesity is on the rise. The public health consequences of OA, particularly knee OA are therefore expected to rise dramatically. There is thus an urgent need for advancement in research in this area. An accurate estimate of the prevalence of knee OA would improve the understanding of its impact in different sectors of society, and facilitate public health decision-making and resource allocation to address this upcoming challenge in public health. Currently there is no proven drug that slows down the osteoarthritis process and management of knee OA is symptomatic. Identification of genetic, environmental, inflammatory and biomechanical risk factors will help us to understand the pathogenesis and find factors for its prevention. There is a need for early diagnosis of knee OA and identifying subjects who are more likely to benefit from drug treatment. Effort is needed in the discovery of drugs that have disease modifying effect to treat this disabling disease. Understanding the biomechanical factors underlying knee OA may also lead to the discovery of new recommendation and treatment strategies.