Imperial College London is one of the leading medical institutions in the world, when measured by spending on medical research.

It is on the Charing Cross campus that Professor Justin Cobb leads the MSk Lab. Together with Professor Alison McGregor, he runs a group that has close links with the rest of the Musculoskeletal Network in College. The key members of this group are Professors Andrew Amis in Mechanical Engineering, and Molly Stevens and Anthony Bull in The Institute of Biomedical Engineering. They also enjoy close links with Philippa Cann in tribology, and Yuang-Zhong Yang in computer science.

The main areas being looked into include;

•Early identification, treatment and prevention of OA

*As part of the £12m Wellcome EPSRC centre

•Gait in health and disease, including elite athletes and rehabilitation

*In the fully equipped Gait lab

•Motor control of the trunk and limbs in sport and disease

*In the neuro-science lab

•Joint Analysis using 3D software

*Forensic analysis and detailed planning

•Bone quality and health

*Developing metrics for bone quality and fracture prevention

•Surgical skills and health economics

*Robotics, navigation, and patient matched instrumentation in training and practice

The MSk Lab, and Imperial College in general, has a track record of working on collaborative projects with industry. These range from spinning out companies from the lab, or licensing patents developed in house, to running clinical trials.