Staff Profile

I studied medicine at Edinburgh University from 1999-2005. During this time I did an intercalated BMedSci at Newcastle University, studying the late effects after childhood cancer. After completion of my foundation  training in Edinburgh, I was awarded an academic clinical fellowship and moved back to Newcastle to pursue my academic career in paediatrics. 

In 2016 I was awarded an MRC clinical research fellowship, based both at Roslin Institute and the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre in Newcastle to investigate bone and growth in mouse models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Short stature and osteoporosis are common in DMD and its pathophsyiology may include a paracrine as well as an endocrine abnormality of the GH/IGF-1 axis, which is further exacerbated by glucocorticoid (GC) use. The commonly used mdx mouse has a phenotype which is less severe than DMD boys. A new Cmah-/-mdx mouse model has increased disease severity, but its skeletal phenotype has never been investigated.

To test the overall hypothesis that murine models of DMD have an intrinsic abnormality of linear growth and skeletal development that can be rescued by modulation of the GH/IGF-1 axis, I investigated:-

1. Growth and growth plate (GP) chondrogenesis in mdx and Cmah-/-mdx murine models

2. Bone development and fragility in the Mdx and Cmah-/-mdx mouse models

3. Growth response and bone development following exposure to glucocorticoids.

4. Growth and bone response following treatment with rhGH and/or rhIGF-1.

Alongside my laboratory work I secured funding (£211,422) from Duchenne Now to run a portfolio-adopted clinical trial investigating the use of testosterone replacement therapy for delayed puberty in adolescents with DMD (NCT02571205). I have recently received a grant from Duchenne UK for £228,562 to run an extension study of this project. 

I was awarded my PhD in October 2019 and returned to Newcastle to take up an NIHR academic clinical lectureship. On completion of my core paediatric training I will take up GRID training in paediatric endocrinology and diabetes in September 2020. My long-term goal is to become a leading academic in paediatric endocrinology with a specific interest in the muscle-bone unit and glucocorticoid effects on bone and growth. 

Research grants

• March 2019: Duchenne UK (£228,562). Trial manager on 3- year grant for extension study, “Long term observational extension study of gonadal function after pubertal induction in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy”
• October 2018: Joint Research Committee, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals Trust (£15000). Co-investigator on British Paediatric Surveillance Unit study, “Symptomatic glucocorticoid induced adrenal suppression in the United Kingdom and Ireland.”
• December 2015: Duchenne Now (£211,422). Trial manager on 3- year grant for clinical trial “ Testosterone therapy for pubertal delay in DMD”
• November 2017: British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Research Award (£10,000).The role of VBP6, a steroid analogue, on growth and bone health in a novel mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Prizes

• April 2019. Second prize oral presentation at Roslin Institute research day 
• April 2019. Finalist in poster competition UK Neuromuscular Translational Research conference
• March 2019. Late breaking abstract rosette at ENDO
• December 2018. First prize poster at Edinburgh Musculoskeletal Group Winter Symposium 
• April 2018. First prize poster at Roslin Institute research day 
• November 2015. First prize clinical Poster at British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes conference 
• June 2014. First Prize oral at Northern Region Paediatric Research and Development Conference 
• July 2005. Keasbey Memorial Bursary (for academic achievement and contribution to university life) 
• 2004. First prize in RSM Student Research Presentation competition
• 2004. GlaxoSmithkline and Medicine Publishing Elective Award
• 2004. Medical Women’s Federation Elective prize 

I am an APLS instructor and frequently teach on courses throughout the UK. I have regularly taught undergraduate students as part of the Newcastle University Child development module, as well as conducting bedside teaching for MRCPCH clinical exam revision sessions. I also designed revision cards for the MRCPCH clinical exam which are distributed to trainees in the Lothian region. 

I have delivered a number of  invited talks including:

• Bone health in muscle disease- from bench to bedside. Muscular Dystrophy UK English Conference, April 2019
• Growth and development of muscle and bone in neuromuscular disorders. Muscular Dystrophy UK Scottish Conference, November 2017
• Osteopaenia of Prematurity at Northern Skeletal Bone Health day, January 2017
• Bone Health in children and young adults with DMD. University College London, May 2016
• The role of MRI in genetic muscle diseases. Portuguese Society of Neuromuscular Disorders, 2015
• Bone health in children and young people with neurodisabilities. 8^thMiddlesbrough Neuro-Developmental Paediatric Symposium, 2015

I am the paediatric section editor for OnExamination, which is part of the BMJ publishing group and provides an online revision platform for the MRCPCH exams. My role is to design questions, provide online candidate feedback on questions and review the content, in particular with regard to the evolving MRCPCH curriculum . 

• Wood CL, Cheetham TD, Hollingsworth KG, Guglieri M, Ailins-Sahun Y, Punniyakodi S, Mayhew A, Straub V. Observational study of clinical outcomes for testosterone treatment of pubertal delay in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. BMC Pediatrics 2019, 19(1), 131.
• Wood CL, Lane LC, Cheetham T. Puberty: Normal physiology (brief overview). Best Practice and Research: Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 2019, 33(3), 101265.
• Wood CL, Straub V. Bones and muscular dystrophies: what do we know?. Current opinion in neurology 2018, 31(5), 583-591.
• Wood CL, Cheetham T. Treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy: First small steps. The Lancet 2017, 390(10101), 1467-1468.
• Wood CL, Bettolo CM, Bushby K, Straub V, Rawlings D, Sarkozy A, Owen C, Cheetham TD. Bisphosphonate use in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - why, when to start and when to stop?. Expert Opinion on Orphan Drugs 2016, 4(4), 407-416.
• Embleton ND, Korada M, Wood CL, Pearce MS, Swamy R, Cheetham TD. Catch-up growth and metabolic outcomes in adolescents born preterm. Archives of Disease in Childhood 2016, 101(11), 1026-1031.
• Willis TA, Wood CL, Hudson J, Polvikoski T, Barresi R, Lochmüller H, Bushby K, Straub V. Muscle hypertrophy as the presenting sign in a patient with a complete FHL1 deletion. Clinical Genetics 2016, 90(2), 166-170.
• Srinivasan R, Rawlings D, Wood CL, Cheetham T, Moreno ACJ, Mayhew A, Eagle M, Guglieri M, Straub V, Owen C, Bushby K, Sarkozy A. Prophylactic oral bisphosphonate therapy in duchenne muscular dystrophy. Muscle & Nerve 2016, 54(1), 79-85.
• Wood CL, Straub V, Guglieri M, Bushby K, Cheetham T. Short stature and pubertal delay in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Archives of Disease in Childhood 2016, 101(1), 101-106.
• Wood CL, Cheetham TD. Vitamin D: increasing supplement use among at-risk groups (NICE guideline PH56). Archives of Disease in Childhood - Education and Practice edition 2016, 101(1), 43-45.
• Wood CL, Warnell F, Johnson M, Hames A, Pearce MS, McConachie H, Parr JR. Evidence for ASD Recurrence Rates and Reproductive Stoppage From Large UK ASD Research Family Databases. Autism Research 2015, 8(1), 73-81.
• Wood CL, Cheetham TD, Guglieri M, Bushby K, Owen C, Johnstone H, Straub V. Testosterone Treatment of Pubertal Delay in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Neuropediatrics 2015, 46(6), 371-376.
• Wood CL, Stenson C, Embleton N. The Developmental Origins of Osteoporosis. Current Genomics 2015, 16(6), 411-418.
• Baker A, Wood CL, Wood AM, Timms P, Allsopp AJ. Changes in vitamin D and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in submariners during a submerged patrol. Occupational & Environmental Medicine 2014, 71(2), 104-108.
• Embleton N, Wood CL. Growth, bone health, and later outcomes in infants born preterm. Jornal de Pediatria 2014, 90(6), 529-532.
• Wood CL, Wood AM, Harker C, Embleton ND. Bone Mineral Density and Osteoporosis after Preterm Birth: The Role of Early Life Factors and Nutrition. International Journal of Endocrinology 2013, 902513.
• Embleton ND, Wood CL, Tinnion RJ. Catch up growth and the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) in preterm infants. In: Nutrition for the Preterm Neonate: A Clinical Perspective. Springer Netherlands, 2013, pp.269-290.
• Wood CL, Tinnion RJ, Korada SM, Cheetham TD, Relton CL, Cooke RJ, Pearce MS, Hollingsworth KG, Trenell MI, Embleton ND. Growth and metabolic outcome in adolescents born preterm (GROWMORE): follow-up protocol for the Newcastle preterm birth growth study (PTBGS). BMC Pediatrics 2013, 13, 213.