The Imaging Arthritis Consortium

Background

Osteoarthritis affects the health and mobility of 8.5 million people in the UK, and places a substantial burden on the resources of the NHS. Osteoarthritis is a complex and multifactorial condition that acts across a range of length scales. Imaging plays a major role in the diagnosis and monitoring of this disease. However, despite great advances in clinical imaging technology over the past few decades, there isn’t a single technique that can capture the impact of osteoarthritis on joint structure, biochemistry and function at each length scale.

Project summary

The GW4 grant was used to launch the Imaging Arthritis Consortium, a network for academics, clinicians and industry representatives from all career stages with interests in imaging related arthritis research. This consortium will leverage leading experience and facilities for musculoskeletal imaging that exists across the GW4 to promote new collaborations in the field of musculoskeletal imaging. The consortium will work to identify unmet needs in musculoskeletal imaging, provide complimentary expertise in different imaging modalities, establish protocols for correlative imaging studies and act as an information hub for new avenues of research. The consortium has generated several grant applications and collaborations and has helped provide training and skills development for ECRs.