Rate My Professor Stephen Oakley

Conjoint Associate Professor Stephen Oakley is a faculty member in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle. He earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and PhD in Medicine from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Newcastle. Oakley is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP), a member of the Australian Rheumatology Association (ARA), and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). A graduate of UNSW Medical School, he completed basic physician training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and advanced rheumatology training at Prince of Wales, Prince Henry, Royal Newcastle, and St George Hospitals, achieving FRACP status in 1999. His doctoral thesis in 2004 evaluated arthroscopic, biomechanical, and histological assessments of articular cartilage in an animal model of osteoarthritis.

Since May 2008, Oakley has worked as Staff Specialist Rheumatologist in the Department of Rheumatology at John Hunter Hospital, Hunter New England Local Health District. He has held the position of Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle since 2009, conducting research and teaching in the field of rheumatology. Previously, from 2004 to 2008, he was Consultant Rheumatologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, with an Honorary Senior Lectureship at King’s College London. His research explores the role of connective tissue biomechanical properties in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis, biomechanical determinants of RA severity and excess cardiovascular disease, and the effects of immune-modulatory therapies such as adalimumab on pre-clinical cardiovascular biomarkers in ACPA-positive RA. He leads projects like T-BIRD (Tissue Biomechanics and the Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases) and HEART-RA studies, securing grants totaling $241,000, including from Abbvie Pharmaceuticals. Key publications include 'Hypothesis: An immuno-biomechanical model of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody positive rheumatoid arthritis' (Medical Hypotheses, 2026), 'Biomechanical determinants of rheumatoid arthritis severity and excess cardiovascular disease: common origins of two complex diseases' (RMD Open, 2024), and 'A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effect of Adalimumab Upon Pre-Clinical Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Disease in ACPA-Positive Rheumatoid Arthritis' (preprint, 2025). Oakley has received the ARA Young Investigator of the Year Prize (2002), Best Clinical Teacher award from St George Clinical School-UNSW (1998), and NSW Branches Scholarships from Arthritis Australia (1998, 1999, 2000). He serves on the John Hunter and Royal Newcastle Hospitals Combined Medical Staff Council and maintains international collaborations.