Exploring the link between joint injury and osteoarthritis
A new study published in The Lancet Rheumatology shows potential ways to predict how likely someone is to develop osteoarthritis after a knee injury.
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About Us
The Centre for Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis Versus Arthritis aims to develop new treatments for this disabling condition, improving healthcare and transforming people's lives.
Our strategy is to turn our research findings into patient benefit. This includes finding targets for new treatments, new tests or markers, and personalised approaches to symptom management for osteoarthritis.
Directed by Professor Tonia Vincent within the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, the OA Centre is hosted by the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS), University of Oxford.
We bring together researchers and clinicians from across the University of Oxford including the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, the Botnar Research Centre, and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, as well as Queen Mary University of London, Imperial College, Sheffield University, and University of East Anglia.
In addition to developing novel disease "markers" and therapies for patients with osteoarthritis, we are also creating a national training resource for scientists and clinicians working within the OA field.
The Centre was created in April 2013 with substantial funding from Versus Arthritis, the University of Oxford and the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research (KTRR). A further five years funding was awarded in 2018.
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Latest News
Pioneering study sets out to answer and address why osteoarthritis impacts patients differently
3 June 2026
Researchers from NDORMS are playing leading roles in a major new UK-wide research consortium aiming to improve treatment and outcomes for people living with osteoarthritis.
Largest study of knee osteoarthritis tissue reveals the core biological pathways underlying osteoarthritis
2 June 2026
A major international study led by researchers at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at the University of Oxford has found that osteoarthritis (OA) – the most common form of arthritis worldwide – is not a collection of separate diseases, as many scientists had previously speculated, but rather a single condition with common core underlying biological pathways.
Oxford researchers to redefine new human-based research models of pain
12 November 2025
Professor Tonia Vincent is part of an interdisciplinary team from Oxford University leading a major new initiative which aims to redefine human-based research models for greater understanding of disease and the acceleration of new medicines.
New drug offers hope for people with hand osteoarthritis
22 December 2022
A new study, published in Science Translational Medicine by researchers at the University of Oxford has identified that Talarozole, a drug that is known to increase retinoic acid, was able to prevent osteoarthritis (OA) in disease models.
Labelling proteins through the diet gives new insights into how collagen-rich tissues change as we age
15 October 2021
A new study, published in eLife, uses advanced tissue analysis technology to show how the incorporation of new proteins changes in bone and cartilage with age.