Louise Reynard is a Senior Lecturer within the Biosciences Institute at Newcastle University, UK. Her research focuses on functional genetic and epigenetic analysis of musculoskeletal diseases, in particular osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). One of Dr Reynard’s main research goals is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms through which genetic variation and epigenetic mechanisms impact on gene expression to predispose to disease. Current research includes examining the role of
DNA methylation in modulating or mediating OA and RA genetic disease risk, investigating the impact of age-related and joint site methylation differences in cartilage function, functional analysis of OA-associated methylation changes in cartilage, and analysing alternative RNA splicing in
cartilage differentiation, ageing and disease.

Dr Reynard is a member of the MRC-ARUK Centre for Integrated Research into Musculoskeletal Ageing and collaborates with local, national and international researchers, including those from the Netherlands, USA, and Australia. Dr Reynard’s research is funded by the BBSRC, MRC, Versus Arthritis, the JGW Patterson Foundation, the Community Foundation, the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Joint Research Executive Scientific Committee and the Lincoln Centre, Sydney, Australia.