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Staff Profile

Professor John Loughlin

Prof of Musculoskeletal Research

  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 241 8988
  • Personal Website: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2018-3361
  • Address: Biosciences Institute
    International Centre for Life
    Faculty of Medical Sciences
    Newcastle University
    Central Parkway
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 3BZ
    UK


Background

Introduction

I'm a molecular and cell biologist with a background in genetics. My first degree was in applied biochemistry at Liverpool Polytechnic followed by a PhD in developmental biology at the University of Leeds. My postdoctoral studies were undertaken in the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford. These involved a molecular genetic analysis of diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

I subsequently obtained a fellowship from the Arthritis Research Campaign (now known as Versus Arthritis) and established a group at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics. At that point my focus became the genetic analysis of osteoarthritis (OA). 

In 2002 I was awarded a tenured lectureship at Oxford and in 2008 I moved to Newcastle as Professor of Musculoskeletal Research.

Click here to view my Google Scholar citations.

Click here to view my ORCID account.

Qualifications

  • 1999 MA (status) University of Oxford
  • 1991 PhD Molecular and Developmental Biology, University of Leeds
  • 1987 BSc (Hon) Applied Biochemistry, Liverpool Polytechnic

Previous Positions

  • 2002-2007 University Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Sciences (tenured post), University of Oxford
  • 1997-2002 Arthritis Research Campaign Fellow, University of Oxford
  • 1995-1997 Postdoctoral Scientist, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford
  • 1991-1995 Postdoctoral Scientist, Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford

Memberships

      I am a member of the following professional societies:
  • Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI)
  • British Society for Genetic Medicine (BSGM)
  • British Society for Matrix Biology (BSMB)


Research

Research Interests

The principal research focus of my group is identifying and then characterising those genes that confer risk towards the development and progression of osteoarthritis (OA).

We are known as the Osteoarthritis Genetics Group (OAG) and we are based within the Biosciences Institute at the International Centre for Life.

OA is a common disease involving loss of normal joint function. It is painful, debilitating and impacts not only on the quality of life but also on the length of life. Click here for more information.

The form of the disease that we work on is the one that arises without an obvious cause, such as in the absence of a clear injury. This form of the disease, known as primary OA, affects older people.

A number of epidemiological studies have demonstrated that OA has a large genetic component. Through the application of powerful genome-wide association scans involving tens of thousands of OA patients, we have identified many genes harbouring susceptibility alleles for OA.

Our efforts are directed toward comprehensive functional analysis of the risk alleles within these genes and in others that are emerging from ongoing scans. To do this, we use a range of molecular and cellular laboratory techniques, investigating cell lines and primary cells from patients.

Many of the OA genes that we investigate harbour polymorphisms that influence gene expression and this has stimulated our study of the tissue-specific effects of cis polymorphism on allelic expression imbalance and of the role of methylation at CpG dinucleotides as an epigenetic regulator of OA genetic risk.

We are also starting to assess at a molecular level if this genetic risk is mechanistically laid down early in the life course and therefore has developmental origins.


Esteem Indicators

  • Newcastle director of the Medical Research Council Versus Arthritis Centre for Integrated Research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) (2015-2023) 
  • Member of the Early Career Award interview committee of the Wellcome Trust (2022)
  • Member and deputy lead of the Versus Arthritis Musculoskeletal Research Advisory Group (2019-2022)
  • Member of the Versus Arthritis College of Experts (2019-2022)
  • External evaluator of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Arthritis and Rehabilitation, Vienna, Austria (2021)
  • Member of the Publications Committee of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) (2019-2021)
  • Advisor on academic appointments or promotions for Cardiff University (2020), University of Birmingham (2019), Weill Cornell Medical College (2018), Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University (2018), University of Edinburgh (2017), Boston University School of Medicine (2016), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2014), and Duke University Medical Center (2014)
  • Co-organiser and co-chair of the 2nd Osteoarthritis Epigenetics Workshop, Dublin, Ireland (2018)
  • Member of the Board of Directors of OARSI (2008-2019)
  • President of OARSI (2015-2017)
  • Chair of the Arthritis Research UK Senior Research Fellowships committee (2016)
  • Co-organiser and co-chair of the 1st Osteoarthritis Epigenetics Workshop, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2015)
  • Chair of the Ethics Committee of OARSI (2012-2014)
  • Program committee member and session chair, OARSI Congress 2012, 2013 and 2014
  • Secretary General of OARSI (2010-2013)
  • Member of the Fellowship Implementation Committee of Arthritis Research UK (2007-2013)
  • Moderator for the pre-congress workshop on "Genetics, genomics and functional analysis of OA susceptibility", OARSI Congress (2012)
  • Chair and organiser of the second OA Biomarkers workshop, Atlanta, USA (2010)
  • Editorial Board member of the journals Osteoarthritis & Cartilage, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, Osteoarthritis & Cartilage Open, and Bone & Joint Research
  • Presented my groups research, and overviews of the research area, at international conferences in Europe, North America and Asia 


Funding & Public Engagement

I have been the principal investigator (PI) for 30 grants and the co-investigator (CI) for an additional 25, with a total grant income of over £27 million.

My current and recent grants come from the following funders and agencies:

  • Medical Research Council (MRC)
  • Versus Arthritis
  • European Union
  • Wellcome Trust
  • Randerson Foundation
  • JGW Patterson Foundation
  • Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • NC3Rs/EPSRC
  • Ruth and Lionel Jacobson Charitable Trust
  • Royal College of Surgeons of England
  • Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
  • GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

I have presented my groups research activities to a number of patient and public meetings across the north of England, including in Newcastle upon Tyne, Chester-le-Street, Wansbeck and Appleby.

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

  • Lecturer on the BSc Biomedical Sciences module 'Clinical Ageing and Health' (BMS3017)
  • Lecturer on the BSc Biomedical Sciences module 'Genetics and Human Disease' (BMS3010)
  • Exam question setter and marker
  • Supervisor for undergraduate laboratory projects
  • Supervisor for undergraduate vacation scholarships
  • Undergraduate project marker
  • Tutor for biomedical students 

Postgraduate Teaching

  • Lecturer for the MRes module 'Genetics of Common Diseases' (MMB8014)
  • Supervisor for MRes and MSci laboratory projects
  • Supervisor for Academic Foundation trainees (AFPs) and Academic Clinical Fellows (ACFs)
  • MRes exam question setter, exam marker, and dissertation project marker


Publications