Akira Wiberg

I studied medicine at Merton College, Oxford, where I was a Postmaster (senior scholar), and was awarded the Martin Wronker Prize for finishing top of my year at Oxford University in the Medical Sciences BA degree. After obtaining my medical qualification, I completed the Academic Foundation Programme in Oxford followed by Core Surgical Training in London, plastic surgery training in the South West and Thames Valley Deaneries, and a post-CCT Fellowship in peripheral nerve surgery at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore and the Cleveland Clinic, London. 

I was an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellow from 2016-19 and undertook my DPhil (PhD) under the supervision of Prof Dominic Furniss and Prof David Bennett at Oxford. My thesis delineated the genetic architecture of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a very common and disabling hand disease caused by compression of the median nerve in the hand. We performed the first ever genome-wide association study in CTS, and identified several genes and biological pathways that play a central role in determining an individual's susceptibility the disease. 

I was appointed as NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Plastic Surgery in Oxford in 2020, and I was awarded a Versus Arthritis Career Development Fellowship in 2024. As a surgeon-scientist, I split my time between the hospital and the laboratory. My clinical interest is in peripheral nerve surgery, and my closely related research theme is translational at its core. I use genomic, molecular biology, and experimental medicine techniques in "bench-to-bedside" research that has the ultimate goal of improving clinical outcomes for people with CTS and other types of nerve injury. This includes:

- Elucidating the pathological mechanisms that underlie CTS and related nerve compression injuries, with a focus on understanding the changes that take place in the connective tissues that surround the nerve.
- Using genetic information to stratify risk of developing CTS and the risk of needing surgery. 
- Developing non-surgical therapies for patients with CTS that target specific cells, genes and molecules. 
- Using electrical stimulation to augment nerve regeneration in people with CTS and other nerve injuries.
- Studying the contribution of peripheral nerve compressions to migraine and other chronic headaches.

I currently co-supervise three DPhil students and one MSc by research student. I am also a Stipendiary Lecturer in Human Anatomy at Merton College, where I tutor first year medical students.