Dr April Hartley
PhD, BSc
Expertise
Current positions
Honorary Senior Research Associate
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Contact
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Research interests
April is a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD student interested in the role of bone mineral density in osteoarthritis pathogenesis and progression. April is co-ordinating follow-up data collection in a unique population of individuals with high bone mass, including X-rays and questionnaire data. April is using this data to determine radiographic OA progression and it's association with high bone mass. April also works on large population-based datatsets (UK Biobank and, through a collaboration with Prof. Joyce van Meurs at Erasmus MC in the Netherlands, the Rotterdam study) to perform genetic and molecular epidemiology analyses (GWAS, Mendelian Randomisation, polygenic risk scores, metabolomics) to identify risk factors for OA and it's progression.
Prior to her PhD studentship, April completed a BSc in Biology at Imperial College London and then moved to Bristol University to work on the multi-centre VIBE study, investigating the relationship between higher impact physical activity and bone health in older adults. April has been awarded two New Investigator awards from the Bone Research Society and an American Society of Bone and Mineral Research travel grant to attend national and international conferences to present her work.
Publications
Recent publications
01/08/2024Protein identification for stroke progression via Mendelian Randomization in Million Veteran Program and UK Biobank
Stroke
Causal relationships between anthropometric traits, bone mineral density, osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis: a Mendelian randomization investigation
A Genome-Wide Association Study Meta-Analysis of Alpha Angle Suggests Cam-Type Morphology May Be a Specific Feature of Hip Osteoarthritis in Older Adults
Arthritis and Rheumatology
Age-specific effects of weight-based body size on fracture risk in later life
European Journal of Epidemiology
Causal relationships between anthropometric traits, bone mineral density, osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Thesis
Understanding the Role of Bone in the Pathogenesis of Osteoarthritis
Supervisors
Award date
21/01/2021