The University of Sheffield
Department of Human Metabolism

Dr Amaka Offiah BSc, MBBS, MRCP, FRCR, PhD, FRCPCHAmaka Offiah

HEFCE Clinical Senior Lecturer

Academic Unit of Child Health
Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TH

Office: C4, Stephenson Wing

Telephone: +44 (0)114 2717557
Fax: +44 (0)114 2755364
Email: a.offiah@sheffield.ac.uk

Biography

I arrived from Nigeria in November 1992 and after successfully passing the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB), I became a House Officer and then a Senior House Officer at Oldchurch Hospital in Romford, Essex. I obtained my MRCP in 1995.

I then moved to Sheffield for my radiology training where I developed an interest in paediatric radiology, particularly in child abuse and skeletal dysplasias. I passed my FRCR in 1998 and was offered the opportunity to study for a PhD with the Institute of Child Health / Great Ormond Street Hospital. I successfully defended my PhD (Optimisation of the radiological imaging of suspected non accidental imaging) and was appointed as a Consultant in 2004.

I remained at Great Ormond Street Hospital until November 2009, when I took up my current appointment with The University of Sheffield as a Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Academic Unit of Child Health.

Research Interests

I am interested in the imaging of suspected child abuse and skeletal dysplasias and in methods of determining which children have fragile bones prone to fracture and which do not. More specifically, I am concentrating on the optimisation of current techniques and development of novel methods of distinguishing brittle from normal bones, in understanding the mechanisms of accidental injury in infants and young children and in improving the detection and dating of the subtle fractures seen in abuse.

Teaching Interests

I contribute to the teaching of Radiology Specialist Registrars on rotation at Sheffield Children´s Hospital. I offer SSC and B Med Sci attachments to medical students and I currently co-supervise 5 PhD students. I give a large number of invited local and national lectures on various radiology, paediatric, genetic, emergency medicine and orthopaedic courses. I am an instructor on the biannual Instructional Course organised by the Skeletal Dysplasia Group for Teaching and Research and helped to develop and then taught on the inaugural national skeletal dysplasia course held in Bangalore, India in August 2010. I have contributed chapters to several well-respected radiology textbooks, and am co-author of two books, “Radiological Atlas of Child Abuse” and “Fetal and Perinatal Skeletal Dysplsias: An Atlas of Multimodality Imaging”. I recently became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Professional Activities

I am a Panel Member of the European Skeletal Dysplasia Network (ESDN) and a committee member of the International Consortium for Vertebral Anomalies & Scoliosis and the Skeletal Dysplasia Group for Teaching & Research. I chair both the Child Abuse Taskforce of the European Society of Paediatric Radiologists and the Skeletal Dysplasia Group for Teaching and Research. I am a Partner Governor on the Board of Sheffield Children´s NHS Foundation Trust, representing the University of Sheffield, and sit on various other committees including the Sheffield Research Ethics Committee, Sheffield Children’s Hospital Scientific Advisory Committee and Sheffield Children’s Hospital Research Committee. I act as an expert witness for the courts in cases of suspected child abuse.

Current Projects

Key Publications

Thayyil S, Sebire NH, Chitty LS, Wade A, Chong W, Olsen O, Gunny RS, Offiah AC, Owens CM, Saunders DE, Scott RJ, Jones R, Norman W, Addison S, Bainbridge A, Cady EB, Vita ED, Robertson NJ, Taylor AM; for the MARIAS collaborative group. Post-mortem MRI versus conventional autopsy in foetuses and children: a prospective validation study. Lancet May 2013 2013 (E pub ahead of print)

Bochukova E, Schoenmakers N, Agostini M, Schoenmakers E, Rajanayagam O, Keogh JM, Henning E, Reinemund J, Gevers E, Sarri M, Downes K, Offiah A et al Growth retardation and severe constipation due to a dominant negative mutation in the thyroid hormone receptor alpha gene. New Engl J Med 2012;366:243-249

Leung R, Nwachukwu C, Pervaiz A, Landes C, Offiah AC Are UK radiologists satisfied with training and support received in suspected child physical abuse? Clin Radiol 2009;64:690 – 698

Thayyil S, Cleary JO, Sebire NJ, Scott R, Chong WK “Klling”, Gunny R, Owens C, Olsen O, Offiah A, Parkes HG, Chitty L, Price AN, Yousry T, Robertson NJ, Lythgoe MF, Taylor AM Post mortem examination of human fetuses: a comparison of whole-body high-field MRI at 9.4T with conventional MRI and invasive autopsy Lancet 2009;374:467 – 475

Offiah AC, Hall CM Observational study of skeletal surveys in non-accidental injury Clin Radiol 2003;58:702 – 705