The Paget's Association 

From a scientific background studying hypoxia in cancer and tumour-associated macrophages, I joined the department in 2006 as a post-doc in the group of Professor Nick Athanasou. It was then that I started studying osteoclasts; the cells responsible for causing pathological bone loss in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, bone metastasis and primary bone cancer. Because of my research background, I started investigating the role of hypoxia and the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor, HIF, in regulation of osteoclast formation and function within the context of primary bone tumours (EU Network of Excellence, EuroBoNeT) and then as an Arthritis Research UK Career Development Fellow in the context of rheumatoid arthritis. I am now working on two related projects; (i) investigating the potential of the osteoclast-inhibiting bisphosphonates to act as anti-aging drugs and (ii) determining how oxygen-loaded nanobubbles impact the effects of hypoxia on osteoclast differentiation and activity.