• Research Themes
• Accomplishments
• Publications

Research

JuMP uses a collaborative, transdisciplinary approach to address important questions in musculoskeletal health. The aim of this training program is to train such scientists, hand-in-hand with a research program that focuses on understanding the role of joint motion from biomechanics to activity as it contributes to the pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of joint disease.

JuMP integrates research in the following areas:

• basic studies at the cellular and molecular level, including bone and soft-tissue degradation, repair and regeneration;
• investigations of joint motion and loading, involving imaging scientists, biomechanists and clinicians, who visualize joints in both animal models and in humans with osteoarthritis;
• the development of biomaterials and joint replacements, involving world-class surgeons and biomedical engineers;
• studies of the interaction between joint motion and its neuromuscular control;
• clinical and community-based research to answer questions about how individuals with osteoarthritis respond to interventions and interact with their environment.

Arguably, London and its partner institutions in Southwestern Ontario host the only team in Canada with such a wide range of demonstrated expertise in the multiple aspects of joint disease. JuMP trainees are exposed continuously to state-of-the-art research in all of these areas and thus develop a breadth of expertise far exceeding that of traditional programs.

The overall objective of this research is to reduce morbidity due to diseases of the joints and maintain lifelong mobility through:

• enhanced ability to detect, monitor and characterize the onset and progression of joint disease in individuals and within at-risk communities;
• increased understanding of the contribution of abnormal biomechanics to the pathogenesis of joint disease; and
• developing improved therapies for joint disease at an earlier stage.