Centre for Musculoskeletal Research designated as a European rheumatology centre of excellence

The Centre for Musculoskeletal Research at the University of Manchester has recently been designated as a Centre of Excellence for the third time by European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR).

The five year award recognises Manchester as one of the top research centres for rheumatology in Europe and was awarded as a result of the centre’s high quality publications, approximately 100 articles per year, with 35% in high impact journals.

EULAR’s aim for the Centres of Excellence is to develop a group of first-class research centres for active researchers, to enable exchange of fellows’ research projects, and link with other centres across Europe.

The Centre for Musculoskeletal Research has over 130 members of staff, who sit across a number of different research groups, including:

  •  Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology
  • Arthritis Research UK Centre for Genetics and Genomics
  • Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group
  •  NIHR Manchester Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit (BRU)
  • Independent Researcher Programmes.

The vision of the centre is to be the largest, most comprehensive and most productive centre for musculoskeletal science in the UK by 2020, with research spanning from basic science, to experimental medicine, clinical trials, technology innovation and through to implementation and applied research.

Professor Anne Barton, Lead for the Centre for Musculoskeletal Research and BRU theme lead, said:

“Having our Centre of Excellence designation renewed is a testament to researchers across the Centre for Musculoskeletal Research and the quality of our research and publications.

Our award of an NIHR Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit in 2012 has strengthened our research capability within the centre and played an integral role in our recent EULAR designation.

“The EULAR Centre of Excellence title is a quality stamp which will enable us to foster further rheumatology collaborations across Europe and apply for large research grants.”