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Contact information


akira.wiberg@ndorms.ox.ac.uk

Akira Wiberg

BA BM BCh DPhil FRCS(Plast)

Senior Clinical Research Fellow

  • Consultant Peripheral Nerve Surgeon
  • Principal Investigator, Peripheral Nerve Research Lab
  • Arthritis UK Career Development Fellow

Peripheral nerve compression, injury, and pain

I studied medicine at Merton College, Oxford, where I was elected a Postmaster (senior scholar) and awarded the Martin Wronker Prize for taking the Top First in the University’s Medical Sciences BA. After qualifying as a doctor, I undertook the Academic Foundation Programme in Oxford, Core Surgical Training in London, and plastic and reconstructive surgery training in the South West Deanery, followed by an NIHR Clinical Lectureship in Oxford. I then completed a post-CCT Fellowship in peripheral nerve surgery at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic, London.

From 2016 to 2019, I held an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship and completed a DPhil at NDORMS on the genetic architecture of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), which laid the foundation for my current translational research in nerve compression and injury.

As a surgeon-scientist, I divide my time between the operating theatre and the laboratory. I am a Consultant Peripheral Nerve Surgeon with the South West Brachial Plexus Team in Bristol, where my practice focuses on reconstructive surgery for brachial plexus and peripheral nerve injuries, and the surgical management of neuropathic pain, including thoracic outlet syndrome.

In Oxford I hold an Arthritis UK Career Development Fellowship and lead the Peripheral Nerve Research Lab at NDORMS. Our group integrates genomics, cell biology, and experimental medicine to improve outcomes for patients with nerve compression injuries and pain, with research programmes focused on:

▪ Mechanisms of CTS and related compression neuropathies, particularly fibrotic and inflammatory changes in peri-neural connective tissue and their relation to pain phenotype.
▪ Polygenic risk scores for risk stratification and phenotyping in compression neuropathies.
▪ Developing gene- and cell-targeted therapies for nerve compression.
▪ Electrical peripheral nerve stimulation to enhance nerve regeneration.
▪ Elucidating the role of peripheral nerve compression in migraine and chronic headache.

I currently co-supervise three DPhil students and one MSc student, and serve as Stipendiary Lecturer in Human Anatomy at Merton College, where I teach first-year medical students.

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