Shafaq Sikandar

Professor Shafaq Sikandar is a Professor of Sensory Neurophysiology at Queen Mary University of London's William Harvey Research Institute, leading the Sensory Neurophysiology lab. She holds academic roles in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry's Centre for Experimental Medicine & Rheumatology. Her research focuses on understanding pain mechanisms, particularly the transition from acute to chronic pain in musculoskeletal conditions, neuro-immune interactions, and clinical studies involving post-surgical pain, arthritis, cancer pain, and fibromyalgia. She teaches BSc modules on Repair & regeneration and Disconnected pathways, and serves as the FMD Equality Diversity and Inclusion Lead for Communications and Engagement.

Dr. Sikandar's training includes a PhD from University College London (Pharmacology) and postdoctoral work at UC San Diego (Anesthesiology) and UCL's Wolfson Institute. She leads a team including postdoctoral researchers (e.g., Dr. Sara Caxaria, Dr. Alice Fuller) and PhD students (e.g., Sabah Bharde, Romy Evans). Her lab employs in vivo and back-translational approaches using mouse models and molecular biology, collaborating with institutions like Barts Charity and Cancer Research UK.

Key research contributions include identifying neutrophil roles in fibromyalgia pain and mechanisms of analgesia in Nav1.7 null mutants. She has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles, including studies in Brain, PNAS, and Neuron. Her funded projects include grants from Versus Arthritis and the Royal Society.

Collaborators include Prof. John Wood (UCL) and Prof. Guilherme Barros (UNESP). Her work bridges basic science and clinical practice, emphasizing translational therapies for chronic pain conditions.