Nicola (Nikki) Kuiper is a Daphne Jackson Fellow based at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS, Oswestry (RJAH), in the Arthritis Research Centre. Nikki’s host organisation is the School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering at Keele University.

Nikki’s specialism is in musculoskeletal health and disease research and she has an internationally recognised profile for cartilage research with contributions to well-established cartilage repair technologies.

After obtaining her degree in Biological Sciences from Liverpool John Moores University, Nikki went on to do a biomedical PhD at The University of Manchester in collaboration with the RJAH where she focused on cellular responses to cartilage damage in rheumatoid arthritis.  This led to three Research Fellowships, one in the United States of America at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and two in the United Kingdom at The University of Manchester and at Keele University respectively. When the new medical school opened at Keele University, Nikki was offered and accepted a Lectureship there and went on to become a Senior Lecturer combining her teaching with her research.

Returning to research after a break of four years, Nikki’s project will enable her to re-skill in an area that combines her love of musculoskeletal biology with her interest in the power of databases and is titled: Big data analyses of the long-term benefits of knee cartilage surgery

Her Fellowship is sponsored by Orthopaedic Research UK and the Medical Research Council (MRC).

You can read more about how Nikki became a Daphne Jackson Fellow and her project on the links below:

Inaugural winner of the ORUK/Daphne Jackson Fellowship — Orthopaedic Research UK

Dr Nikki Kuiper’s project – https://oruk.org/case-study/kuiper-total-joint-replacement/