Professor Richard Oreffo

Richard Oreffo holds the chair of Musculoskeletal Science is co-founder and was the inaugural Director of the Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration. He has held positions in USA, AstraZeneca, and University of Oxford before being appointed to a lectureship in 1999 at the University of Southampton. Richard is internationally recognised for his work on skeletal biology and the mechanisms involved in skeletal stem cell differentiation and bone regeneration.

"I am particularly interested in the application of bone stem cells and regenerative medicine strategies for the repair and regeneration of damaged skeletal tissue. We have the potential to make a difference through collaborative teams here at the University of Southampton to treat devastating bone conditions."

Richard completed his DPhil at the MRC Bone Research laboratory in Oxford on skeletal cell biology and his post-doctoral training in San Antonio, Texas, USA under Professor Greg Mundy on bone remodelling. For over 20 years, he has lead a multidisciplinary research group focused on developing strategies to repair bone & cartilage with translation through to patient benefit a personal key driver. In 2001 Richard was recognised with the Maxime Hanns award for collaborative research in Bone Tissue Engineering, appointed to a Senior Lectureship in 2002 and to a Readership and Personal chair in 2004. Richard has successfully trained over 53 PhD and MD students since 2002 and, as of 2020, directly supervises/co-supervises 9 MD/PhD Graduate Fellows.

Richard manages a significant research grant portfolio, has published over 370 peer-reviewed full papers (H-index 76; >21,600 citations ISI WoS), including breakthrough publications on skeletal stem cells and nanotopography, bone regeneration as well as epigenetics in Osteoarthritis, in Nature Materials, ACS Nano, Stem Cells, Arthritis & Rheumatism; holds 7 patents and is co-editor of “Epigenetic aspects of Chronic Diseases” Highly Commended in 2012 BMA Medical Book Awards.

He serves / has served on a number of Research Council Committees, Industrial committees and international advisory boards and holds a number of visiting professorships in Australia and Asia. His research led to the first 3D titanium bone stem impaction graft operation in the UK. He is founder / CSO of Renovos Biologics Limited; a spin-out from the University of Southampton. Richard is on the editorial boards of five journals, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology,  a Fellow of International Orthopaedic Research and in 2015 was awarded a DSc by the University of Oxford. Richard has also been elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Prizes

• Fellow of International Orthopaedic Research (FIOR) (2019)
• DSc (2016)
• Raine Visiting Professorship (2014)
• Adjunct Chair, School of Biomedical Sciences (2018)
• Visiting and Adjunct Senior Professor (2020) (2015)
• Visiting Professor (2015)
• Senior Enterprise award (2014)
• Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2022)
• Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences (2022)