The goal of the Department of Musculoskeletal Biology is to understand the processes that underlie ageing and disease in tissues such as skeletal muscle, bone, cartilage, tendon and ligament. Research is fundamental and encompasses disciplines including anatomy, biomechanics, physiology and molecular cell biology. The Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease provides a powerful focus for understanding the many variables from bioscience to social that influence ageing and chronic disease in people throughout their lives.<br><br>The Department boasts an enviable array of expertise from medical and veterinary clinician-scientists, biomedical scientists and epidemiologists and has state-of-the-art facilities. Our research programmes are generously funded through grants from the MRC, BBSRC, NIH (USA), Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, Arthritis Research UK and other charities. Through the leadership within the institute the University of Liverpool is one of three academic partners in the MRC-Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA).<br><br>The key principle behind our research is the recognition over the last decade that to elucidate cell, organ or organismal function in health and disease requires an integrated approach, utilising cutting-edge technologies.<br><br>Our research activity ranges from molecules to population and from laboratory to bedside. We have over 100 research-active staff creating new insights into bioscience, epidemiology, health issues, patients, lifestyles and care.<br><br>These insights are translating into real world benefits, such as the new approaches we have developed to prevent muscle wasting in intensive care patients delivering this kind of return on investment has helped us to attract extensive funding, with partners including Wellcome Trust, UK Research Councils, NIH (USA), Unilever and GSK.<br><br>Our UK partners include the University of Sheffield and Newcastle University, whilst international collaborators include Masstricht University, the University of Michigan, the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center and Xi'an Jiaotong University.<br><br>Thanks to the new cutting-edge facilities in the University of Liverpool's William Henry Duncan Building we have an innovative workspace for clinical and non-clinical scientists to carry out their research into diseases and the mechanisms behind them. <br><br>With these extensive in-house research facilities and strong UK and global academic partners, we are well placed to continue our mission and realise our ambitious plans in the ageing and chronic disease field.