
Dr Ben Faber
PhD, MBBS, BSc
Expertise
Ben uses imaging, genetic and demographic information to better understand why some people develop osteoarthritis.
Current positions
NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology
Bristol Medical School (THS)
Contact
Press and media
Many of our academics speak to the media as experts in their field of research. If you are a journalist, please contact the University’s Media and PR Team:
Biography
Ben is currently an NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology. His work primarily focuses on understanding the aetiology of osteoarthritis using imaging, genetic and demographic data. Alongside his research Ben continues to complete his clinical training in Rheumatology as an Honorary Rheumatology Registrar at North Bristol NHS Trust.
Prior to this post Ben completed an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship submitting his PhD thesis entitled "Genetic and epidemiologic approaches to elucidate the role of abnormal hip shape in the development of hip osteoarthritis," which was awarded the Doctoral Dissertation Prize 2022/23 by the University of Bristol Faculty of Translational Health Sciences. He was supervised by Professor Jon Tobias and Professor George Davey Smith. This project involved collaborating with researchers at The University of Manchester and University of Aberdeen in the UK, and Erasmus MC, the Netherlands and the University of Queensland, Australia.
In 2015, Ben was awarded a Wellcome funded Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Clincial Research Primer at the University of Bristol. During this 7 month grant Ben looked at the associations between DXA-derived hip shape and osteoarthritis in the MrOS study, spending a month working at Oregon Health and Science University in the USA. In 2017, Ben was appointed as a NIHR Academic Clincal Fellow in Rheumatology at North Bristol NHS Trust and the University of Bristol.
Ben sits on the Musculoskeletal Research Advisory Group for Versus Arthritis and the Clinical Advisory Group for the ALSPAC study. He qualified as a doctor from Imperial College London in 2012.
Research interests
Ben is primarily focused on using imaging, genetic and demographic information to better understand the aetiology of osteoarthritis.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
8065 MRC Fellowship MR/S021280/1: Use of Mendelian randomisation to examine the role of abnormal hip shape in the development of hip osteoarthritis
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (THS)Dates
02/09/2019 to 01/09/2022
Publications
Selected publications
20/01/2023A 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
The identification of distinct protective and susceptibility mechanisms for hip osteoarthritis: findings from a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of minimum joint space width and Mendelian randomisation cluster analyses
EBioMedicine
A novel semi-automated classifier of hip osteoarthritis on DXA images shows expected relationships with clinical outcomes in UK Biobank
Rheumatology
Recent publications
10/01/2025Associations between work characteristics and osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open
Cardiovascular risk assessment for osteoporosis patients considering Romosozumab
Bone
42.Mendelian Randomization
Vogel and Motulsky's Human Genetics: Problems and Approaches
Hip shape shows a causal effect on hip fracture but not hip osteoarthritis: findings from a GWAS meta-analysis and causal analyses
A novel classifier of radiographic knee osteoarthritis for use on knee DXA images is predictive of joint replacement in UK Biobank
Rheumatology Advances in Practice
Thesis
Genetic and epidemiologic approaches to elucidate the role of abnormal hip shape in the development of hip osteoarthritis
Supervisors
Award date
06/12/2022