Ali Mobasheri

Bio-sketch

I am Professor of Musculoskeletal Biology in the Research Unit of Health Sciences and Technology within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oulu. I have held this position full time since January 2022. Prior to joining the University of Oulu full-time, I held a fractional 0.3 FTE position in Oulu whilst I held a fractional 0.5 FTE position of Chief Researcher and International Adviser in the State Research Institute Centre for Innovative Medicine (IMC) in Vilnius, Lithuania (2018-2022). I was a full professor at the University of Surrey in the UK from 2014-2018 and worked in full-time and tenured academic posts in London, Liverpool and Nottingham between 1997 and 2014.

I am currently the Immediate Past President of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) and I have served on the Board of Directors of this organization since 2013. I also serve on the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) and as “Collaborateur Scientifique de l’Université de Liège” and Senior Strategic Advisor to the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Public Health Aspects of Musculoskeletal Health and Aging, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium. I am a member of the International Cartilage Regeneration & Joint Preservation Society (ICRS) and I have co-chaired the Translational Science and Regulatory and Liaison Industry committees of International Cartilage Regeneration & Joint Preservation Society (ICRS)

Education

I am a biochemist and physiologist by training. I studied at Imperial College London (BSc, ARCS, 1990) and the University of Toronto (MSc, 1993). I completed my doctoral studies in 1997 in Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. My doctorate was fully funded by the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council (now known as Versus Arthritis) through a full scholarship from 1993-1997.

Current Research

My main area of research is cartilage biology and biomarkers of osteoarthritis. I have applied multi-omics technologies to study the membranome of articular chondrocytes, the secretome of cartilage explants and the proteome, lipidome and metabolome of serum samples from the APPROACH Applied Public-Private Research enabling OsteoArthritis Clinical Headway project focusing on the study of osteoarthritis patients in longitudinal observational cohorts (IMI APPROACH). I have extensive collaborations with pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare companies that develop drugs, cell therapies and medical devices for osteoarthritis and low back pain.

My team in Oulu is currently working on projects relating to obesity and fibrosis in osteoarthritis and intervertebral disc degeneration in the FibroHealth – Combatting Fibrosis in Chronic diseases and Fibrobesity multidisciplinary research programmes supported by the Academy of Finland PROFI6 funding during 2021-2026.

In addition to the European Commission, we gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Research Council of Finland - Suomen Akatemia through the Profi6 336449 grant awarded to the University of Oulu.

Research Interests

Cartilage biology

Ion channel physiology

Glucose transport and metabolism

Immunometabolism in cartilage and intervertebral disc

Biochemical markers of osteoarthritis

Development of biomimetic in vitro models of cartilage and intervertebral disc

Research groups

Biomarkers and immunometabolism in Musculoskeletal Health and Ageing