Rate My Professor Fiona Oakley

Professor Fiona Oakley is Professor of Fibrosis Biology in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University, based in the Newcastle Fibrosis Research Group at the Bioscience Institute. She holds a BSc Honours in Physiology and Biochemistry (1997) and a PhD (2000), both from the University of Southampton. Her career began with MRC-funded (2000-2003) and Wellcome Trust-funded (2003-2005) postdoctoral positions at Southampton, followed by a School of Medicine Career Track Award fellowship there (2005-2006). In 2006, she joined Newcastle University as a Lecturer in the Institute of Cellular Medicine, advancing to Reader in 2012 and to her current professorship. Oakley serves as academic lead for preclinical imaging (CT/IVIS/MR) in her group and supervises PhD students, master's students, and undergraduate lab projects.

Oakley's research centers on fibrosis biology, particularly liver fibrosis, investigating NF-κB signaling pathways in hepatic myofibroblast survival, inflammation, fibrosis progression, and regeneration, as well as serotonin signaling in liver disease. She has established NF-κB as a key therapeutic target by demonstrating its persistent upregulation in scar-forming hepatic myofibroblasts and the benefits of its inhibition in promoting apoptosis and fibrosis resolution. Her contributions include the CRAFT consortium with GSK on liver, kidney, and lung fibrosis therapeutics, and co-founding the spin-out company FibroFind in 2019. Awards include the Dame Sheila Sherlock Young Investigator Award (2006) and the Newton Prize Egypt country prize (2020, shared with Professor Helen Reeves and Dr Marco Zaki) for liver cancer diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Key publications feature 'Interrogating mechanisms of liver fibrosis with omics' (Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 2022), 'c-Rel–dependent Chk2 signaling regulates the DNA damage response limiting hepatocarcinogenesis' (Hepatology, 2023), 'A neutrophil–B-cell axis impacts tissue damage control in a mouse model of intraabdominal bacterial infection via Cxcr4' (eLife, 2022), and highly cited works such as 'Chronic inflammation induces telomere dysfunction and accelerates ageing in mice' (Nature Communications, 2014) and 'Inhibition of inhibitor of κB kinases stimulates hepatic stellate cell apoptosis and accelerated recovery from rat liver fibrosis' (Gastroenterology, 2005). She previously served on the Basic Science Committee of the British Association for the Study of the Liver (2007-2011) and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (2010-2011).