Fanny Hontoir

Graduated in veterinary medicine in 2007, I practiced in a small animal clinic for 3 years (consultations, surgery, imaging). I then moved into research and teaching. I worked for 1 year at the University of Liège, as a replacement, in animal anatomy.

I was then hired at the University of Namur in 2011, as an assistant in animal anatomy. I was responsible for practical work in animal anatomy for 2nd and 3rd year students. My interest in medical imaging led me to produce teaching materials dedicated to learning anatomy via imaging (mainly radiography). I also created an introductory course to imaging dedicated to 1st year students. My supervision activities within the University included (and still include to this day) the supervision of final year bachelor students, as part of their final year project.

During my years as an assistant, I had the opportunity to complete a doctoral thesis on osteoarthritis. The main objective of my thesis was to describe the most appropriate imaging techniques to image the structural (loss of substance) and compositional changes of cartilage. This research allowed me to familiarize myself with the advanced imaging techniques used in research (MRI, CT-scan, Micro-CT, histology) but also to arouse my interest in the biology of osteoarthritis.

I am currently a FNRS Research Fellow at the University of Namur, in the OASIS - NARILIS research team, led by Prof. Vandeweerd. The subject of my FNRS research project is the description of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) in sheep, their modifications with age and osteoarthritis. This international project is an opportunity for collaboration between the OASIS group of the University of Nürnberg, the musculoskeletal research group of the University of Liverpool and the orthopaedic research group of the University of Maastricht.