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Our research themes
Our work is structured around four cross-cutting themes. These are not rigid categories, but collaborative spaces where researchers, clinicians and patients come together to tackle the full spectrum of musculoskeletal health across the life course.
Understanding the mechanisms that drive disease and repair.
We investigate the fundamental biology of bone, joint and movement conditions. From cellular signalling pathways to genetic predisposition, our discovery science asks why conditions develop and how they can be interrupted. This theme feeds directly into our translational pipeline, identifying new targets for therapy and biomarkers for early diagnosis.
Local data, global reach
We do not simply collect data, we connect it. As one of the few academic groups in the UK serving as a European Data Node for OHDSI (Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics), we are part of a global network of over 2,000 researchers across 70+ countries.
Through our OHDSI affiliation, we apply standardised data models and open-source analytics to generate reproducible, large-scale evidence that crosses borders. Whether evaluating the safety of devices or comparing surgical outcomes across continents, our work is designed to be transparent, replicable, and globally relevant.
Through close collaboration with the Barts Health Data Platform our researchers analyse routinely collected health data to better understand clinical care, predict outcomes with greater accuracy, and inform clinical decision-making.
Testing what works, and what doesn't in real healthcare settings
Through our close partnership with the Pragmatic Clinical Trials Unit, we design and deliver high-quality clinical trials that reflect the realities of the NHS but have global applicability. Our trials are not confined to ideal conditions, they are pragmatic testing in real healthcare settings with diverse populations, ensuring that results are applicable to the communities we serve.
Closing the gap between evidence and everyday practice
A breakthrough is only meaningful if it reaches the patient. Our implementation science focuses on how to embed evidence-based interventions into routine care. We study behaviour change, service redesign, and healthcare systems – ensuring that best practice becomes common practice.
Our research clusters
Within these themes, our researchers work across focused clusters:
- Surgery - Optimising outcomes in trauma, arthroplasty and complex reconstruction.
- Rehab - Optimising equity in access to, and delivery of, rehabilitation for people with bone and joint illness/injury across the life course.
- ReGen - Molecular mechanisms underpinning cartilage healing and degeneration.
- RePair - Targeted investigation into preservation of bone and muscle in ageing populations, infection and fracture healing.
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How we deliver
Research at this scale requires more than brilliant minds, it requires the right environment and infrastructure. Bone and Joint Health researchers will have access to the following infrastructure.
The Pragmatic Clinical Trials Unit
World-leading expertise in trial design, conduct, and analysis.
Barts Health Life Sciences
A partnership framework that accelerates the translation of research into clinical adoption.
The Barts Health Data Platform
Anonymised patient data at scale, enabling cutting-edge health informatics research.
The Royal London Hospital
The UK’s busiest trauma centre, where our researchers work alongside frontline clinicians 24/7 in major trauma, limb reconstruction, and complex fracture care.
The Barts Health Orthopaedic Centre
One of the largest elective orthopaedic centres in the UK, providing a rich environment for device based surgical research
Whipps Cross Hospital
Whipps Cross serves a large, ageing, and ethnically diverse population in north-east London. It is here that we are building new capacity for fragility fracture research, orthogeriatrics, and community-embedded rehabilitation.
Barts Health Clinical Research Facility (CRF)
The CRF provides dedicated, purpose-built space for high-quality experimental medicine and early-phase trials. For BJH researchers, this means the ability to conduct first-in-human studies, mechanistic research, and complex intervention trials within a controlled environment, supported by specialist research nurses and clinical scientists.