Vicky Batchelor

I am postdoctoral research scientist, specialising in pain mechanisms and neurovascular remodelling in osteoarthritis. The project that I am primarily working on aims to address a recent government call to validate more methods to study diseases in vitro. I am using the findings from my doctoral thesis to set up cell culture models to study neurovascular remodelling in painful osteoarthritis. This work is being performed in collaboration with Prof. Zameel Cader, Prof Cathy Ye and the Advanced Human In Vitro Models of Pain Cluster in Oxford. 

I completed my DPhil in Molecular and Cellular Medicine at the University of Oxford in January 2026. My project focused on the anatomical and molecular drivers of pain in osteoarthritis.  Prior to commencing my DPhil, I worked with Prof Tonia Vincent and Dr Fiona Watt as a research assistant. My role comprised of working on two projects: the laboratory aspects of a large international consortium project STEpUP OA, and a project investigating sex differences and molecular mechanisms of pain in osteoarthritis.

Before I became a osteoarthritis pain scientist, I completed my undergraduate training in Neuroscience at the University of Western Australia in 2017. Following my undergraduate training, I pursued an Honours degree at the University of Melbourne. I was based in the Epigenetics and Neuroplasticity laboratory within the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. My Honours project studied the transgenerational effects of paternal chronic stress on offspring stress physiology.