Health Inequalities in Active Living
Communication impacts upon every clinical encounter and is considered the most important aspect of practice that health professionals have to master.
This research programme includes projects within three key strands:
- communication and decision-making
- improving patient experience
- improving health and promoting independence using technologies for people with back pain
Musculoskeletal health technologies
The way we move can affect how healthy our joints are and how well we function. Our research aims to enable good quality movement to make exercise safer by improving function and protecting joints from injury or disease, for lifelong active living.
Optimisation of Foot and Ankle Musculoskeletal Health for Active Living
Activity for health is essential at all ages, yet foot and ankle problems can significantly limit mobility and quality of life. Our vision is to enhance musculoskeletal foot health to enable lifelong active living through innovative, inclusive research.
We are committed to transforming the understanding, prevention, and management of foot and ankle conditions, particularly musculoskeletal disorders, through innovative, patient-centred research.
Our work focuses on reducing health inequalities, supporting underserved populations, and improving clinical outcomes by advancing evidence-based care, digital innovation, and stakeholder engagement. By translating research into practice and shaping national and international health policy, we strive to ensure that everyone can stay active and healthy throughout life.
Our multidisciplinary team leads pioneering work in:
- osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal health
- women’s foot health and service innovation
- genomic risk prediction for diabetic foot complications
- digital solutions for foot orthoses provision
- evaluation of musculoskeletal foot pain services
- integration of diagnostic ultrasound in clinical care
People Powered Prosthetics
The is committed to using research to improve the lives, limbs and rehabilitation of anyone effected by limb loss.
We carry out multidisciplinary working with internal and external University contributors across Allied Healthcare, Prosthetic and Orthotic, engineering, healthcare psychology, computer science, enterprise, service and social statistics and demography.
Most importantly, all of our work and research is user-led working in partnership with service users to ensure all activity is valuable and meaningful addressing what really matters.
We also take a research-led teaching approach running our flagship multidisciplinary programme, MSc in Amputation and Prosthetic Rehabilitation.
PHLEX: Physiology of Health, Lifestyle and Exercise
PHLEX/ExMED is a pioneering research group that addresses urgent national and global health challenges through exercise-focused research and innovation.
Research pillars
- exercise and physical activity in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of long-term conditions
- exercise and physical activity in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of long-term conditions
- clinical exercise testing and mechanisms of exercise limitation
- long-term athlete health and injury/illness prevention in sport
Our primary mission is to advance Clinical Exercise Physiology and Rehabilitation as a cornerstone of multidisciplinary healthcare, delivering translational science that improves lives, informs public health policy, and strengthens health systems.
We are shaping the future of healthcare, where exercise is not supplementary, but a foundational component of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.
Physical Activity and Cardiometabolic Health (PAC-Health)
Regular physical activity helps prevent, treat, and manage non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and many cancers. We design, implement, and evaluate physical activity and lifestyle interventions, across the lifespan, that aim to:
- improve health literacy
- effectively prevent health ‘events’ (eg stroke, heart attack) using co-designed, cost-effective, primary and secondary prevention approaches
- manage long-term conditions for better health and quality of life
We work in both high-income countries (HICs) and low-middle-income countries (LMICs), tackling the UN Sustainable Development Goals of Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3) and Reducing Inequalities (SDG 10).
In this theme, our high-quality research is linked with our educational portfolio for pre-registration, undergraduate, and postgraduate students in many nursing, midwifery, and allied health professions’ programmes. It also includes our new MSc and CPD modules in Clinical Exercise Physiology (in development). The CEP modules are set to start in September, 2025.