Current Title:
Professor of Musculoskeletal Sciences, NDORMS, Oxford University

Brief Bio:
Stephanie graduated as a veterinary surgeon from Royal Veterinary College in 2003. After undertaking an internship specialising in equine orthopaedics, she spent 10 years in equine veterinary practice. In 2012, she successfully completed her PhD on the role of inflammation in equine tendinopathy at the Royal Veterinary College. Stephanie then moved to NDORMS, Oxford University to advance and translate her research from horses to humans and was awarded consecutive Research Fellowships from Versus Arthritis (Foundation Fellowship), an Oxford-UCB Prize Fellowship in Biomedical Sciences and subsequently a Versus Arthritis Career Development Fellowship. Stephanie is Full Professor of Musculoskeletal Sciences and Governing Body Fellow at Green Templeton College. She is Principal Investigator of the Dakin Laboratory Group, which undertakes translational research to identify the cellular and molecular basis underpinning soft tissue joint disease, with established research programs on tendinopathy, frozen shoulder and knee arthrofibrosis. Advancing understanding of the biological checkpoints regulating whether fibrosis resolves or persists will inform new therapeutic approaches to treat these common and disabling musculoskeletal diseases.
https://www.ndorms.ox.ac.uk/team/stephanie-dakin
https://www.ndorms.ox.ac.uk/research-groups/soft-tissue-joint-disease-dakin-group

What are your specific research areas and expertise?
The Dakin Lab Group investigates the cellular and molecular basis underpinning the development of chronic inflammation and fibrosis in soft tissue joint disease.

Who have been your mentors?
I was fortunate to be mentored by Professor Andrew Carr at Oxford University, I joined his group back in 2013 he was a real inspiration and incredibly supportive in my transition from postdoc to Principal Investigator. Professor Christopher Buckley is a fantastic current mentor, who does amazing work on rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.

What are you currently working on?
The Dakin Group undertakes translational research focusing on identifying the cellular and molecular basis of inflammatory fibrotic soft tissue joint diseases, with research programmes on tendinopathy, frozen shoulder and knee arthrofibrosis. Understanding the cellular and molecular basis of these diseases will inform new therapeutic approaches targeting tissue resident stromal cells of the joint, to promote resolution of inflammatory fibrotic disease.

What has been the biggest challenge for you?
Transitioning from a practicing equine veterinary surgeon to an academic research and translating my work on horses into humans took more time and energy than I originally envisaged! Thankfully my clinical experiences helped to inform the research questions we work on today.

What project(s) are you looking forward to in the near future?
I am looking forward to some new collaborations and advancing One Health initiatives in musculoskeletal research for horses and humans.

What do you want to do next in your career?
Continue to enhance the work of our group and support the careers of the next generation of brilliant scientists working on disorders affecting tendons and ligaments.

What advice would you give young investigators?
Follow your passion and pursue what really drives you and makes you curious. Laboratory based experiments are often challenging and take time, patience and resilience. If you are starting out as a postdoc, find a PI and a group that will let you pursue your research questions in an environment where you can flourish.

When you’re not in the lab, what do you like to do for fun?
I am a bit of a petrol head and enjoyed testing our single seater racing car with my Father over the years. These days I have swopped 180bhp for 3 horses and love spending time with my 2 young horses Tad and Margot and have had some super dressage competitions with 21 year old Millie Queen who loves to dance!

What resources would you like to see available from the ORS Tendon Section?
It has been great to see the mentorship initiatives flourish that ORS provides for early career investigators. Continued provision of funding to support students and postdocs is of key importance to enable them to present their work on an international stage and forge new connections and collaborations going forward.

How can we follow you?
X: @DakinLabGroup
Bluesky: @dakinlabgroup.bsky.social
Facebook, ResearchGate & LinkedIn: Stephanie Dakin