Dr Omar Albagha

Background

I graduated from the University of Jordan with a first class BSc degree in biomedical Sciences in 1996 and then I moved to Scotland where I obtained an MSc in Medical Molecular Genetics from the University of Aberdeen in 1997. I was then offered a PhD scholarship to work on the genetics of osteoporosis. I obtained a PhD degree in Medical Sciences (Genetics) in 2001 from the University of Aberdeen and worked as a post doc until 2002 when I was appointed as Arthritis Research lecturer in Genetics of Bone disease at the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS, University of Aberdeen) . In 2005 I moved to the University of Edinburgh where I am currently a Reader in Genetics and functional genomics based at the Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine (CGEM) which is part of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM). Over the past 12 years I have investigated the genetic determinants of bone disease with emphasis on osteoporosis and Paget’s disease of bone. I have investigated and contributed to the identification of many genetic variants predisposing to osteoporosis. Recently I have identified 7 new genetic variants that predispose to Paget’s disease of bone (Albagha et al, Nat Genet 2010 and Albagha et al, Nat Genet 2011). These genetic variants were also significant predictors of Paget’s disease severity (Albagha et al, JBMR 2013). I have been awarded the Iain Boyle in 2011 by the European Calcified Tissue Society (ECTS) for significant contribution to the field of genetics of bone and calcified tissue. I currently hold a European Research Council (ERC) consolidator grant.