The Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing The Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing www.cimauk.org Photograph by Lindsay Mackenzie (2nd Runner Up - Newcastle University Student Competition) The Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing Introduction Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and age-related decline in function of musculoskeletal tissues (bones, joints, tendons and muscles) are major contributors to loss of independence and poor quality of life in older people. The Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) is a collaboration between researchers and clinicians at the Universities of Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield that brings together complementary and outstanding expertise in skeletal muscle, bone, cartilage and tendon biology, ageing research, nutrition and exercise interventions and clinical excellence in musculoskeletal disorders. The Centre is developing an integrated approach to understanding the processes and effects of ageing in tissues of the musculoskeletal system, how ageing contributes to diseases of the musculoskeletal system and how these processes may be ameliorated or prevented. This Centre of Excellence brings together researchers from 3 leading UK Universities to build on current world-leading research to understand why our bones, joints and muscles function less well as we age and why older people develop clinical diseases of these musculoskeletal tissues, such as arthritis or osteoporosis. The Centre is investigating new ways of preventing the deterioration of the musculoskeletal tissues that occur as we age to help preserve mobility and independence in older people. CIMA was funded by an initial grant of £2.5M from the Medical Research Council and Arthritis Research UK commencing June 2012 together with substantial investment in new posts by the Universities of Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield. The detailed Objectives of CIMA are to: • Develop and exploit an integrated research framework • Develop and test novel interventions based on for ageing of the musculoskeletal system. nutrition, exercise and/or pharmacology to maintain or enhance bone, cartilage, ligament/tendon and muscle • Identify how intrinsic mechanisms of ageing function during ageing and to reduce age-related contribute to musculoskeletal dysfunction and deterioration of the whole musculoskeletal system. understand the impact of musculoskeletal ageing on age-related wellbeing. • Build capacity by training young researchers and clinicians with multidisciplinary skills in • Identify and share optimal techniques and approaches musculoskeletal ageing. (e.g. imaging, biomarkers and functional measures) to monitor age-related changes in all musculoskeletal • Become the foremost UK Centre for research tissues and provide an integrated assessment of on musculoskeletal ageing and develop a major musculoskeletal function (e.g. using systems biology international reputation for research in this and modelling approaches). important area. 1 CIMA 2 The Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing Contents Introduction 1 Resources and Facilities 4 Directors and Site Directors Prof. Malcolm J Jackson (Director) 12 Prof. Tim Cawston (Newcastle Site Director) 13 Prof. Eugene McCloskey (Sheffield Site Director) 14 Principal Investigators Dr Ilaria Bellantuono 15 Prof. Peter Clegg 16 Photograph above by Gobinath Murugesapillai (Winner - Newcastle University Student Competition) Prof. Richard Eastell 17 Dr Graham Kemp 18 Dr Jennifer Milner 46 Prof. Tom Kirkwood 19 Dr Peter Milner 47 Prof. John Loughlin 20 Prof. Robert J Moots 48 Prof. Anne McArdle 21 Dr Munitta Muthana 49 Prof. John Mathers 22 Prof. Jon Nicholl 50 Prof. Gerry Wilson 23 Prof. Stuart Parker 51 Dr Joao Passos 52 Investigators Prof. Hilary J Powers 53 Dr Rebecca Bancroft 24 Dr Carole Proctor 54 Dr Karl Bates 25 Dr Louise Reynard 55 Dr Fraser Birrell 26 Prof. Lynn Rochester 56 Dr Anne-Gaëlle Borycki 27 Prof. Drew Rowan 57 Prof. David J Burn 28 Prof. Graham Russell 58 Dr Nadine Carroll 29 Prof. Tim Skerry 59 Prof. Robin Huw Crompton 30 Dr Falko F Sniehotta 60 Dr Daniel Cuthbertson 31 Dr Simon Tew 61 Dr Rachel Duncan 32 Prof. Wendy Tindale 62 Prof. Francesco Falciani 33 Dr Michael Trenell 63 Prof. Alejandro F. Frangi 34 Prof. Doug Turnbull 64 Prof. Jim Gallagher 35 Dr Aphrodite Vasilaki 65 Dr Alison Gartland 36 Marco Viceconti 66 Prof. Douglas Gray 37 Prof. John Wilding 67 Prof. Richard D Griffiths 38 Mr Mark Wilkinson 68 Prof. John Hunt 39 Dr Liz Williams 69 Prof. John Innes 40 Prof. Steve Winder 70 Prof. Carol Jagger 41 Dr Lang Yang 71 Dr Jonathan Jarvis 42 Dr David A Young 72 Dr Nathan Jeffery 43 Prof. Thomas von Zglinicki 73 Dr Elizabeth Laird 44 Prof. Sue Mawson 45 Contact details 74 3 CIMA Resources and Facilities The creation of CIMA facilitates the bringing together of three Institutes each with world class research infrastructure, facilities and resources for research into ageing and the musculoskeletal system. Individually, each Institute has excellent facilities for basic science research, pre-clinical and clinical research, but together we benefit from shared access to high-end technology and expertise, access to model systems that cover the musculoskeletal system as a whole and clinical expertise and resources not available in any single institute. Many of our existing University Institutes, Centres and Laboratories are highly regarded and recognised internationally for their contribution to ageing and musculoskeletal research. For example, both Newcastle and Sheffield have recently been awarded European League Against Rheumatism Centre of Excellence status in recognition of their contribution to the field. However, together CIMA is increasing this profile further by focusing our research effort into addressing fundamental questions in musculoskeletal ageing. Examples of the some of the facilities and resources that are available to members of CIMA through the partner institutes include: 4 The Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing 5 CIMA The Magnetic Resonance and Image Analysis Campus for Ageing and Vitality Research Centre (MARIARC) Newcastle University has invested heavily in world class The Magnetic Resonance and Image Analysis Research Centre infrastructure to support its ageing research agenda. The (MARIARC) is a core facility of the University of Liverpool, Campus for Ageing and Vitality consists of a new quadrangle directed by Dr Graham Kemp (CIMA co-applicant). MARIARC of buildings for intensively translational biomedical research into has a Siemens Symphony 1.5 T and a Trio 3 T scanner, age-related disease. The Wellcome Trust funded Biogerontology which support MR-based whole-body composition and muscle Building housing basic research alongside the Edwardson cross-sectional area analysis, 1H MRS (magnetic resonance Building containing biomarker laboratories and the aged mouse spectroscopy) measurements of muscle cellular triglyceride, facility. Experimental Medicine platforms for 3TMRI, PET, 31P MRS studies of muscle bioenergetics and near-infrared gait and exercise laboratories and bio-banking facilities are spectroscopy measurements of muscle oxygenation. The Trio housed in adjacent buildings. A new NIHR-funded, translational is also used for functional MRI (fMRI), diffusion tensor imaging research building (opening Nov 2011) will act as the hub for and perfusion imaging, which can be applied to muscle, the Biomedical Research Centre and the ground floor of this cartilage and tendon studies. building will host innovative purpose-designed multi-disciplinary translational research clinics. The Campus houses the recent The University of Liverpool Biomechanics RC funded Centre for Integrated Systems Biology of Ageing and Nutrition, the MRC Centre for Brain Ageing and Vitality and the Group Facility Livewell Programme (Lifelong Health and Wellbeing). The University of Liverpool Biomechanics Group Facility supports full body dynamic modelling and finite element The University of Liverpool MRC/NERC Centre analysis of musculoskeletal mechanics and foot-ground for Genomic Research (CGR) interactions. It has state of the art facilities for gait analysis including static and treadmill-based point force and pressure The University of Liverpool MRC/NERC Centre for Genomic measurement, integrated with free-ranging gas-exchange Research (CGR) is part of the National Research Infrastructure. measurement of energy consumption, high speed 3D motion In addition, the Centre has a large portfolio of specific project capture and videography, wireless electromyography, and grants from the BBSRC, NERC, MRC, NHIR and other remote activity monitoring from combined self-contained funding agencies, and has strong TSB funding with several multiple accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope and multinational companies. The CGR employs 16 mainly post- GPS transducer signals. Imaging facilities include microCT, doctoral members of staff. It runs three next generation ultrasound and laser scanning, and group engineers have sequencing platforms, LifeTechnologies’ SOLiD, Illuminas developed software for whole body dynamic simulation, GA2 and Roche’s 454 GS FLX platform augmented by robotic topographic analysis of pressure/depth distributions over preparative pipelines. A new Ion Torrent instrument is under complex landmark-free surfaces. trial. It also has 3 computer clusters and 200Tb of storage, managed by a postdoctoral infrastructure specialist. 6 The Centre for Integrated