The MSk Lab is based at the Michael Uren Hub on the White City Campus and comprises a team of over 30 full-time surgeons, physiotherapists, scientists and engineers all seeking to understand musculoskeletal health and degeneration and to prevent and treat a wide array of problems associated with impaired mobility. The MSk Lab aims to improve the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing joint replacement surgery (and reduce the costs of treatment) by developing and utilising new tools and technologies, improving rehabilitation methods and pioneering improved surgical training and techniques.
The MSk Lab’s vision is to become an integral part of a musculoskeletal health provision pathway by devising, demonstrating and validating high-quality, low-cost interventional and rehabilitation strategies, techniques and technology. We want the best possible musculoskeletal treatment to be available to the maximum number of people, helping them remain active and able to pursue the lives they imagined for longer.
Our research
MSk’s academics develop and operate a number of dedicated projects, allowing for the measurement and assessment of mobility and performance in pre- and post-operative patients, and the wider population. Many of its most innovative contributions emerge from collaboration with College engineers and scientists across fields as diverse as tribology (the science of how surfaces in motion interact), robotics, computing, bioengineering and materials, with some of these academics embedded in the team day-to-day, and others collaborating on particular projects and activities.
Our teaching
The MSk Lab is also an innovator in the training and continued professional development of clinicians. Together with College colleagues expert in robotic surgery and surgical education, it has designed a wide array of hands-on tools and simulators to strengthen both operative and decision-making capacity. By up-skilling clinicians with appropriate technology, it also aims to disrupt the conventional high cost-low throughput model of the joint replacement industry, increasing productivity by reducing costs and improving both technical performance and theatre ergonomics
In addition to the scientific work the Lab undertakes, it also has highly respected orthopaedic specialist consultants carrying out NHS surgery working amongst the group giving insightful input into the research as well as courses for both undergraduate and post graduate students.
The MSk Lab is directed and led by Professor Justin Cobb and Professor Alison McGregor.
