Rebecca Shepherd

Dr Rebecca Shepherd is a Senior Lecturer in Human Anatomy at the University of Bristol, currently also serving as Bristol School of Anatomy’s Deputy Director for Research and Deputy Programme Director for BSc Applied Anatomy. Actively engaged in public outreach, Dr Shepherd has received awards for science communication, and currently serves as an elected councillor for the Anatomical Society. Dr Shepherd’s PhD research, funded by the Anatomical Society, centred on the role of bone marrow adipocytes on bone health. Her current research continues this theme, focusing on examining and understanding the extracellular matrix of bone tissue in both healthy and diseased states and has been funded by a Doctor Philip Welch Research Grant. A second strand of her research also aims to develop Raman spectroscopy as a non-destructive tool for identifying ivory species at customs, aiding in the enforcement of ivory trade bans. This project is funded by grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Dr Shepherd is additionally willing to consider consultancy work in this area. Dr Shepherd is open to self-funded MSc or PhD students interested in these themes of research.

[01/06/2025] Analysis of Interactions Between Pyomelanin and the Extracellular Matrix in an Ex Vivo Turkey Tendon Model [05/03/2025] Multivariate analysis of Raman spectra for discriminating human collagens [03/05/2025] Transfer learning from inorganic materials to ivory detection [24/04/2024] Discrimination of ivory from extant and extinct elephant species using Raman spectroscopy [29/02/2024] Generation of pearl/Calcium phosphate composite particles and their integration into porous chitosan scaffolds for bone regeneration