Pro-resolving therapies: A new therapeutic paradigm targeting inflammation in equine tendon injury

Project overview

Tendon injuries commonly affect racing Thoroughbreds and athletic horses and are a major welfare concern. There are no superior treatments for tendon injuries, which require prolonged rehabilitation and carry a high risk of recurrence as horses age. Severe and recurrent injuries frequently result in euthanasia. Injured tendons are highly inflamed, and failure to adequately resolve inflammation drives scar tissue formation, which compromises normal tendon function.

Our previous work identified that tendons mount protective counter-resolution responses to inflammation after injury. However, this process goes awry in some horses with chronic injury and the magnitude of this protective response diminishes with ageing(1, 2). This project will investigate how protective tendon resolution responses can be developed as a novel therapeutic strategy. We will develop a new 3D tissue culture system to accurately model equine tendons in vitro, and test if these new therapies can improve tendon healing by preventing chronic inflammation and scar repair.

Training

The Botnar Institute plays host to the University of Oxford's Institute of Musculoskeletal Sciences, which enables and encourages research and education into the causes of musculoskeletal disease and their treatment. Training will be provided in techniques including scRNAseq, histology, multiplex immunohistochemistry and tissue culture utilising 2D & 3D models.

A core curriculum of lectures will be taken in the first term to provide a solid foundation in a broad range of subjects including musculoskeletal biology, inflammation, epigenetics, translational immunology, data analysis and the microbiome.  Students will also be required to attend regular seminars within the Department and those relevant in the wider University.

Students will be expected to present data regularly in Departmental seminars, the Dakin Soft Tissue Joint Disease Group and to attend external conferences to present their research globally, with limited financial support from the Department.

Students will also have the opportunity to work closely with the Smith & Dudhia collaborating research groups at the Royal Veterinary College.

Students will have access to various courses run by the Medical Sciences Division Skills Training Team and other Departments. All students are required to attend a 2-day Statistical and Experimental Design course at NDORMS (information will be provided once accepted to the programme).

How to Apply

Please contact the relevant supervisor(s), to register your interest in the project, and, if required, the departmental Education Team (graduate.studies@ndorms.ox.ac.uk), who will be able to advise you of the essential requirements for the programme and provide further information on how to make an official application.

Interested applicants should have, or expect to obtain, a first or upper second-class BSc degree or equivalent in a relevant subject and will also need to provide evidence of English language competence (where applicable). The application guide and form is found online and the DPhil or MSc by research will commence in October 2026.

Applications should be made to one of the following programmes using the specified course code.

D.Phil in Musculoskeletal Sciences (course code: RD_ML2)

MSc by research in Musculoskeletal Sciences (course code: RM_ML2)

D.Phil in Molecular and Cellular Medicine (course code: RD_MP1)

MSc by research in Molecular and Cellular Medicine (course code: RM_MP1) 

For further information, please visit http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/applying-to-oxford.

References

1.         S. G. Dakin, J. Dudhia, N. J. Werling, D. Werling, D. R. Abayasekara, R. K. Smith, Inflamm-aging and arachadonic Acid metabolite differences with stage of tendon disease. PLoS One 7, e48978 (2012). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048978

2.         S. G. Dakin, D. Werling, A. Hibbert, D. R. Abayasekara, N. J. Young, R. K. Smith, J. Dudhia, Macrophage sub-populations and the lipoxin A4 receptor implicate active inflammation during equine tendon repair. PLoS One 7, e32333 (2012). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032333