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Biography
I did my PhD in developmental biology at Leeds University and then carried out postdoctoral studies in the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Oxford University. These involved a genetic study of common and rare diseases of the musculoskeletal system. I subsequently obtained a fellowship from the Arthritis Research Campaign and established my own research group, with a focus on the genetics of osteoarthritis (OA).
In 2002 I moved to the Botnar Research Centre in Oxford, where I took up the post of Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Biology, and in 2008 I moved to Newcastle as Professor of Musculoskeletal Research.
My group investigates how OA genetic risk acts on our joints. We use a number of different techniques, most involving molecular biology, molecular genetics and cell biology. We also use human tissues that have been donated by patients who have had their hips or knees surgically replaced due to severe OA. Our aim is to use the insights that we generate from our genetic studies to improve OA diagnosis and to develop new therapeutic avenues.