Our members | Aberdeen Centre for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health

Our members

ACAMH is coordinated by a Centre Director and Deputy Director, and our members cover a range of academic and clinical expertise including rheumatology, orthopaedics, epidemiology, anaesthesia, sport and exercise science, neuroscience, medical physics and physiotherapy.

	Dr Rosemary Hollick Centre Director Senior Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology, University of Aberdeen Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist, NHS Grampian Rosemary is an Academic Rheumatologist at the University of Aberdeen. She leads an innovative programme of applied mixed-method health services research which aims to provide new insights to inform effective, person-centred, and sustainable improvements in health and well-being for people living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). This interdisciplinary programme brings together patients, clinicians, researchers, and decision makers, and combines several different methodological approaches: routine health care data and health informatics, epidemiology, and qualitative methods, with an emphasis on patient and public involvement and co-design. Rosemary has championed the role of patients in RMD research and use of patient experience data to improve care. This has been recognised by an NIHR Innovation and Inclusion award for patient partner involvement in the VOICES study ‘Voicing experience to improve care for people with rare autoimmune conditions.’ Rosemary has a particular interest in service delivery in rare diseases and geographical inequalities in access to care and outcomes.
	Luke Farrow Centre Deputy Director SCREDS Clinical Lecturer, University of Aberdeen Speciality Trainee in Trauma and Orthopaedics, NHS Grampian Luke is a Scottish Research Excellence Development Scheme (SCREDS) Clinical Lecturer and Orthopaedic trainee based in Aberdeen. As well as Deputy Director of ACAMH, he is also lead for the new Trauma & Orthopaedics Clinical Research Group. He also leads the Aberdeen AI Healthcare Collaborative (AAHC) and is the current BOA Associate Sub-Speciality Lead for elective orthopaedics. He has clinical interests in lower limb arthroplasty and trauma, as well as research interests around data, AI and digital innovation in Trauma and Orthopaedics.
The work of ACAMH is supported by collaborators from a number of disciplines across the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian.
	Dr Santosh Baliga Consultant in Trauma and Orthopaedics, NHS Grampian Santosh was appointed as a Consultant in Trauma and Orthopaedics at NHS Grampian in January 2017. His specialist interests are spinal surgery and adult trauma and he directs his elective practice in managing adult cervical and lumbar degenerative conditions. Having graduated from the University of Aberdeen Medical School, he has completed Basic and Higher Surgical training in the North of Scotland. He has undertaken fellowship training in Major Trauma and Spine Surgery at University Hospital of North Midlands (UHNM), Stoke-on-Trent. After this he worked at the world renowned Centre for Spinal Studies and Surgery, QMC Nottingham, firstly as senior National Spine Fellow then as an Associate Consultant. Santosh’s research interests are in degenerative lumbar convictions and adult trauma. He is heavily involved in undergraduate training in his post as an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen.
	Dr Guy Bewick Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience, University of Aberdeen Guy is a neuroscientist seeking to understand control mechanisms that adapt nerve terminal function to varying patterns of use, then exploiting these mechanisms as therapeutic targets. His model is the neuromuscular system, both motor and sensory. In motor terminals, he discovered how the two different types physiologically adapt to distinct activity patterns, which has suggested targets to treat ALS. Guy and his team are now making exciting discoveries in sensory terminals, including their involvement in priming chronic muscular pain. This same class of sensory nerve endings control our blood pressure, so the team are now seeking to exploit targets uncovered to develop new hypertension treatments, through their spin-out company Dioka Therapeutics.
	Professor Patrice Forget Clinical Chair in Anaesthesia, University of Aberdeen Honorary Consultant, NHS Grampian Patrice previously worked as Clinical Professor in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine in Belgium, and as President of the Belgian Pain Society. In 2019, he has was appointed as Clinical Chair in Anaesthesia at the University of Aberdeen (UK), and Honorary Consultant at the NHS Grampian. He is currently involved in clinical research, focused mainly on perioperative epidemiology, pain, and clinical pharmacology, specifically aiming at improving quality and safety of pain management. Patrice is currently founder and the chair of the PANDOS (Pain AND Opioids after Surgery) ESAIC Research Group (European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care).
	Brendan Gabriel Advanced Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen Brendan Gabriel is an Advanced Research Fellow focusing primarily on the role of skeletal muscle during health and disease (obesity, ageing, and diabetes), with a particular interest in chronobiology. Brendan is also currently investigating the potential of physical activity as a treatment or preventative intervention in metabolic disease, considering the influence of circadian rhythms (e.g. shift work) on skeletal muscle metabolism.
	Tim Gardner Specialty Registrar (ST6) in Trauma and Orthopaedics, NHS Grampian Tim is a Specialty Registrar in Trauma and Orthopaedics, with interests in paediatric orthopaedics, medical education, high-fidelity simulation and educational media content production. He is currently British Orthopaedic Association Associate Surgical Specialty Lead for Paediatric Orthopaedics, and was a University of Aberdeen Clinical Lecturer (Scholarship) in Medical Education from 2022-2023 (OOPE). Tim's aspirations are to be a Clinical Academic Consultant. He is keen to ensure that healthcare students are appropriately exposed to MSK learning, given nearly a fifth of the population have an MSK condition - optimising both in-person and online methods. In terms of research, he is passionate about involvement in large-scale, well-run, well-financed clinical trials from an undergraduate stage.
	Dr Jenny Gregory Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science, University of Aberdeen Jenny is a Senior Lecturer, teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and leads the Sports & Exercise BSc Programmes and coordinates summer research placements at University of Aberdeen. Her research focuses on how bone shape and structure change with exercise, disease, and disuse, utilizing medical image analysis and data analytics. The disorders she mainly focuses on are osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, and how bone shape can act as a biomarker for risk and progression. She has also looked at life-course and longitudinal changes in healthy populations.
	Professor Gareth Jones Professor in Epidemiology, University of Aberdeen Gareth is a non-clinical epidemiologist. He trained in epidemiology at the University of Manchester, in the Arthritis Research Campaign Epidemiology Unit. He moved to the University of Aberdeen in 2005. He is currently Professor in Epidemiology and deputy head of the University of Aberdeen’s Epidemiology Group. He is also currently chair of the School Ethics Review Board, for the School of Medicine, Medical Science and Nutrition.
	Maira Karabayas Speciality Registrar in Rheumatology, NHS Grampian Research Postgraduate, University of Aberdeen Maira recently completed a CSO Clinical Academic Fellowship undertaking laboratory research in giant cell arteritis (GCA), a debilitating and prevailing form of vasculitis. Employing cutting edge transcriptomic platforms and using in-vitro models, she explored the immune-stomal biology of relapsing GCA and identified putative drug targets specific to the difficult to treat disease state of relapse. She has also led on real-world clinical studies and enjoys multiple international vasculitis collaborations. Clinically, she is the Senior Rheumatology Registrar with the NHS Grampian vasculitis team, leading on the management of GCA. Maira’s long-term aspiration is to deliver an independent translational research programme combining basic science and disease endotypes to transform the care of people living with GCA.
	Professor Gary Macfarlane Clinical Chair in Epidemiology, University of Aberdeen Gary has held the Chair in Epidemiology (Clinical) at the University of Aberdeen since 2005, having previously held the same post at the University of Manchester. He trained in Statistics/Computing Science and then Medicine at the University of Glasgow and undertook his PhD at The University of Bristol. Gary is Honorary Consultant in the Department of Public Health at NHS Grampian, Deputy Clinical Lead for Chronic Pain at NHS Research Scotland and Director of the Versus Arthritis/Medical Research Council Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work.
	Dr Kathryn Martin Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, University of Aberdeen Kathryn is a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology and Academic Lead for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement within University of Aberdeen's School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition. Her research interests include arthritis, musculoskeletal conditions (including chronic pain), patient and public involvement in research, social determinants of health, the role of physical/social environment on health behaviours and health outcomes, non-pharmacological symptom management (e.g. physical activity, psychological therapies), community engagement, loneliness, and social isolation. Kathryn is currently Co-Investigator on the Advanced Pain Discovery Platform's PAINSTORM consortium (neuropathic pain) and FORECAST projects (sciatica), Co-Investigator of C-PICTURE (using AI to identify chronic pain from routinely collected primary care data), and the Aberdeen Health Determinants Research Collaboration (health inequalities).
	Dr Rebecca Parr Study Coordinator (UK Antimicrobial Registry), University of Aberdeen Rebecca works as Study Coordinator on the UK Antimicrobial Registry, an observational, hospital-based study looking at the effectiveness and safety of drugs used to treat antimicrobial resistance. She has also worked on the FRESKO study where she enjoyed speaking with patients during the post-study interviews. Rebecca continues to work alongside patient partners as a member of the Epidemiology Group Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement team. Prior to joining the Epidemiology Group, Rebecca worked for over 15 years as a protein engineer, for big pharma and small biotech, on the development of anti-cancer vaccines and antibodies.
	Anna Riemen Consultant Surgeon in Trauma and Orthopaedics, NHS Grampian Anna is a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon with expertise in hand and wrist surgery, upper limb spasticity, peripheral nerve conditions and paediatric trauma. She completed the prestigious JCST approved TIG fellowship in hand and wrist surgery at Wrightington Hospital, the Merseyside Regional Plastic Surgery Unit and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital with additional sessions in upper limb spasticity surgery at the RJAH in Oswestry. During her fellowship Anna also trained in wrist and base of thumb arthroplasty as well as limb reconstruction using 3D planning and custom 3D printed implants. Anna has also completed a fellowship in paediatric orthopaedics at Alder Hey Children’s hospital with a focus on paediatric trauma and orthopaedic emergencies. With a background in Biochemistry and a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD in Regenerative Medicine under Professor Cosimo De Bari, Anna’s research spans basic sciences and osteoarthritis to clinical topics such as cold intolerance.
	Dr James Ross Lecturer in Medical Physics, University of Aberdeen James is a lecturer in Medical Physics and a PI in the Medical Imaging Technologies research theme at University of Aberdeen. His research interests are focused on the development of novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques. James is involved in several field-cycling imaging (FCI) projects (including applications in brain, MSK and cardiac imaging) which can yield new diagnostic information that is invisible to conventional MRI, and without the need for exogeneous contrast agents. Dr Ross also has a research interest in MR spectroscopy which reveals information on tissue chemical composition. Working with Dana Dawson, he has two ongoing projects using phosphorus spectroscopy and proton spectroscopy to understand changes in cardiac energy metabolism and fat composition in pathology.
	Dr Jennifer Summers Senior Lecturer in Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen Jennifer is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Health Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, and a Chartered Statistician. Her expertise lies in epidemiology, health services research, and statistical analysis, with a strong focus on clinical trials and public health. She is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago and an Affiliate of King’s College London. She has contributed extensively to understanding complex health challenges, and her multidisciplinary research aims to inform policy and improve health outcomes by integrating robust statistical methodologies with real-world applications.
	Aimee Urquhart Advanced Practice Physiotherapist in Rheumatology, NHS Grampian Aimee has worked as a physiotherapist for over 20 years, initially specialising in MSK before moving to Rheumatology 10 years ago. She has been in her current role for over 2 years, and her post includes managing a small team of physiotherapists, leading the NHS Grampian Rheumatology physiotherapy service, and providing education/support to all MSK physiotherapists. Clinically she vets primary care referrals, and runs an injection and ultrasound clinic. Aimee has used a recently developed self management intervention manual to create a programme for patients with inflammatory arthritis, which is being delivered to patients.

Picture of Rosemary Hollick

Dr Rosemary Hollick

Centre Director

Senior Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology, University of Aberdeen
Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist, NHS Grampian

Rosemary is an Academic Rheumatologist at the University of Aberdeen. She leads an innovative programme of applied mixed-method health services research which aims to provide new insights to inform effective, person-centred, and sustainable improvements in health and well-being for people living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). This interdisciplinary programme brings together patients, clinicians, researchers, and decision makers, and combines several different methodological approaches: routine health care data and health informatics, epidemiology, and qualitative methods, with an emphasis on patient and public involvement and co-design. Rosemary has championed the role of patients in RMD research and use of patient experience data to improve care. This has been recognised by an NIHR Innovation and Inclusion award for patient partner involvement in the VOICES study ‘Voicing experience to improve care for people with rare autoimmune conditions.’ Rosemary has a particular interest in service delivery in rare diseases and geographical inequalities in access to care and outcomes.

Picture of Luke Farrow

Luke Farrow

Centre Deputy Director

SCREDS Clinical Lecturer, University of Aberdeen
Speciality Trainee in Trauma and Orthopaedics, NHS Grampian

Luke is a Scottish Research Excellence Development Scheme (SCREDS) Clinical Lecturer and Orthopaedic trainee based in Aberdeen. As well as Deputy Director of ACAMH, he is also lead for the new Trauma & Orthopaedics Clinical Research Group. He also leads the Aberdeen AI Healthcare Collaborative (AAHC) and is the current BOA Associate Sub-Speciality Lead for elective orthopaedics. He has clinical interests in lower limb arthroplasty and trauma, as well as research interests around data, AI and digital innovation in Trauma and Orthopaedics.

The work of ACAMH is supported by collaborators from a number of disciplines across the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian.

Picture of Santosh Baliga

Dr Santosh Baliga

Consultant in Trauma and Orthopaedics, NHS Grampian

Santosh was appointed as a Consultant in Trauma and Orthopaedics at NHS Grampian in January 2017. His specialist interests are spinal surgery and adult trauma and he directs his elective practice in managing adult cervical and lumbar degenerative conditions. Having graduated from the University of Aberdeen Medical School, he has completed Basic and Higher Surgical training in the North of Scotland. He has undertaken fellowship training in Major Trauma and Spine Surgery at University Hospital of North Midlands (UHNM), Stoke-on-Trent. After this he worked at the world renowned Centre for Spinal Studies and Surgery, QMC Nottingham, firstly as senior National Spine Fellow then as an Associate Consultant.

Santosh’s research interests are in degenerative lumbar convictions and adult trauma. He is heavily involved in undergraduate training in his post as an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen.

Picture of Guy Bewick

Dr Guy Bewick

Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience, University of Aberdeen

Guy is a neuroscientist seeking to understand control mechanisms that adapt nerve terminal function to varying patterns of use, then exploiting these mechanisms as therapeutic targets. His model is the neuromuscular system, both motor and sensory. In motor terminals, he discovered how the two different types physiologically adapt to distinct activity patterns, which has suggested targets to treat ALS. Guy and his team are now making exciting discoveries in sensory terminals, including their involvement in priming chronic muscular pain. This same class of sensory nerve endings control our blood pressure, so the team are now seeking to exploit targets uncovered to develop new hypertension treatments, through their spin-out company Dioka Therapeutics.

Picture of Patrice Forget

Professor Patrice Forget

Clinical Chair in Anaesthesia, University of Aberdeen
Honorary Consultant, NHS Grampian

Patrice previously worked as Clinical Professor in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine in Belgium, and as President of the Belgian Pain Society. In 2019, he has was appointed as Clinical Chair in Anaesthesia at the University of Aberdeen (UK), and Honorary Consultant at the NHS Grampian. He is currently involved in clinical research, focused mainly on perioperative epidemiology, pain, and clinical pharmacology, specifically aiming at improving quality and safety of pain management.

Patrice is currently founder and the chair of the PANDOS (Pain AND Opioids after Surgery) ESAIC Research Group (European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care).

Picture of Brendan Gabriel

Brendan Gabriel

Advanced Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen

Brendan Gabriel is an Advanced Research Fellow focusing primarily on the role of skeletal muscle during health and disease (obesity, ageing, and diabetes), with a particular interest in chronobiology.

Brendan is also currently investigating the potential of physical activity as a treatment or preventative intervention in metabolic disease, considering the influence of circadian rhythms (e.g. shift work) on skeletal muscle metabolism.

Picture of Tim Gardner

Tim Gardner

Specialty Registrar (ST6) in Trauma and Orthopaedics, NHS Grampian

Tim is a Specialty Registrar in Trauma and Orthopaedics, with interests in paediatric orthopaedics, medical education, high-fidelity simulation and educational media content production. He is currently British Orthopaedic Association Associate Surgical Specialty Lead for Paediatric Orthopaedics, and was a University of Aberdeen Clinical Lecturer (Scholarship) in Medical Education from 2022-2023 (OOPE).

Tim's aspirations are to be a Clinical Academic Consultant. He is keen to ensure that healthcare students are appropriately exposed to MSK learning, given nearly a fifth of the population have an MSK condition - optimising both in-person and online methods. In terms of research, he is passionate about involvement in large-scale, well-run, well-financed clinical trials from an undergraduate stage.

Picture of Jenny Gregory

Dr Jenny Gregory

Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science, University of Aberdeen

Jenny is a Senior Lecturer, teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and leads the Sports & Exercise BSc Programmes and coordinates summer research placements at University of Aberdeen. Her research focuses on how bone shape and structure change with exercise, disease, and disuse, utilizing medical image analysis and data analytics. The disorders she mainly focuses on are osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, and how bone shape can act as a biomarker for risk and progression. She has also looked at life-course and longitudinal changes in healthy populations.

Picture of Gareth Jones

Professor Gareth Jones

Professor in Epidemiology, University of Aberdeen

Gareth is a non-clinical epidemiologist. He trained in epidemiology at the University of Manchester, in the Arthritis Research Campaign Epidemiology Unit. He moved to the University of Aberdeen in 2005. He is currently Professor in Epidemiology and deputy head of the University of Aberdeen’s Epidemiology Group. He is also currently chair of the School Ethics Review Board, for the School of Medicine, Medical Science and Nutrition.

Picture of Maira Karabayas

Maira Karabayas

Speciality Registrar in Rheumatology, NHS Grampian
Research Postgraduate, University of Aberdeen

Maira recently completed a CSO Clinical Academic Fellowship undertaking laboratory research in giant cell arteritis (GCA), a debilitating and prevailing form of vasculitis. Employing cutting edge transcriptomic platforms and using in-vitro models, she explored the immune-stomal biology of relapsing GCA and identified putative drug targets specific to the difficult to treat disease state of relapse. She has also led on real-world clinical studies and enjoys multiple international vasculitis collaborations. Clinically, she is the Senior Rheumatology Registrar with the NHS Grampian vasculitis team, leading on the management of GCA.

Maira’s long-term aspiration is to deliver an independent translational research programme combining basic science and disease endotypes to transform the care of people living with GCA.

Picture of Gary Macfarlane

Professor Gary Macfarlane

Clinical Chair in Epidemiology, University of Aberdeen

Gary has held the Chair in Epidemiology (Clinical) at the University of Aberdeen since 2005, having previously held the same post at the University of Manchester. He trained in Statistics/Computing Science and then Medicine at the University of Glasgow and undertook his PhD at The University of Bristol. Gary is Honorary Consultant in the Department of Public Health at NHS Grampian, Deputy Clinical Lead for Chronic Pain at NHS Research Scotland and Director of the Versus Arthritis/Medical Research Council Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work.

Picture of Kathryn Martin

Dr Kathryn Martin

Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, University of Aberdeen

Kathryn is a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology and Academic Lead for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement within University of Aberdeen's School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition. Her research interests include arthritis, musculoskeletal conditions (including chronic pain), patient and public involvement in research, social determinants of health, the role of physical/social environment on health behaviours and health outcomes, non-pharmacological symptom management (e.g. physical activity, psychological therapies), community engagement, loneliness, and social isolation.

Kathryn is currently Co-Investigator on the Advanced Pain Discovery Platform's PAINSTORM consortium (neuropathic pain) and FORECAST projects (sciatica), Co-Investigator of C-PICTURE (using AI to identify chronic pain from routinely collected primary care data), and the Aberdeen Health Determinants Research Collaboration (health inequalities).

Picture of Rebecca Parr

Dr Rebecca Parr

Study Coordinator (UK Antimicrobial Registry), University of Aberdeen

Rebecca works as Study Coordinator on the UK Antimicrobial Registry, an observational, hospital-based study looking at the effectiveness and safety of drugs used to treat antimicrobial resistance. She has also worked on the FRESKO study where she enjoyed speaking with patients during the post-study interviews. Rebecca continues to work alongside patient partners as a member of the Epidemiology Group Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement team.

Prior to joining the Epidemiology Group, Rebecca worked for over 15 years as a protein engineer, for big pharma and small biotech, on the development of anti-cancer vaccines and antibodies.

Picture of Anna Rieman

Anna Riemen

Consultant Surgeon in Trauma and Orthopaedics, NHS Grampian

Anna is a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon with expertise in hand and wrist surgery, upper limb spasticity, peripheral nerve conditions and paediatric trauma. She completed the prestigious JCST approved TIG fellowship in hand and wrist surgery at Wrightington Hospital, the Merseyside Regional Plastic Surgery Unit and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital with additional sessions in upper limb spasticity surgery at the RJAH in Oswestry. During her fellowship Anna also trained in wrist and base of thumb arthroplasty as well as limb reconstruction using 3D planning and custom 3D printed implants. Anna has also completed a fellowship in paediatric orthopaedics at Alder Hey Children’s hospital with a focus on paediatric trauma and orthopaedic emergencies.

With a background in Biochemistry and a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD in Regenerative Medicine under Professor Cosimo De Bari, Anna’s research spans basic sciences and osteoarthritis to clinical topics such as cold intolerance.

Picture of James Ross

Dr James Ross

Lecturer in Medical Physics, University of Aberdeen

James is a lecturer in Medical Physics and a PI in the Medical Imaging Technologies research theme at University of Aberdeen. His research interests are focused on the development of novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques. James is involved in several field-cycling imaging (FCI) projects (including applications in brain, MSK and cardiac imaging) which can yield new diagnostic information that is invisible to conventional MRI, and without the need for exogeneous contrast agents.

Dr Ross also has a research interest in MR spectroscopy which reveals information on tissue chemical composition. Working with Dana Dawson, he has two ongoing projects using phosphorus spectroscopy and proton spectroscopy to understand changes in cardiac energy metabolism and fat composition in pathology.

Picture of Jennifer Summers

Dr Jennifer Summers

Senior Lecturer in Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen

Jennifer is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Health Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, and a Chartered Statistician. Her expertise lies in epidemiology, health services research, and statistical analysis, with a strong focus on clinical trials and public health. She is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago and an Affiliate of King’s College London. She has contributed extensively to understanding complex health challenges, and her multidisciplinary research aims to inform policy and improve health outcomes by integrating robust statistical methodologies with real-world applications.

Picture of Aimee Urquhart

Aimee Urquhart

Advanced Practice Physiotherapist in Rheumatology, NHS Grampian

Aimee has worked as a physiotherapist for over 20 years, initially specialising in MSK before moving to Rheumatology 10 years ago. She has been in her current role for over 2 years, and her post includes managing a small team of physiotherapists, leading the NHS Grampian Rheumatology physiotherapy service, and providing education/support to all MSK physiotherapists. Clinically she vets primary care referrals, and runs an injection and ultrasound clinic. Aimee has used a recently developed self management intervention manual to create a programme for patients with inflammatory arthritis, which is being delivered to patients.