Welcome to our website.
The
Institute for Biomedical Research into Human Movement and Health has an
international reputation for research ranging from molecular biology to
whole body studies of human movement and health: it seeks to integrate knowledge
from different disciplines and apply and disseminate that knowledge as it
affects health, mobility, and fitness from “the cradle to the
grave”, and “in sickness and in health”.
The Institute holds a range of major external grants including awards from the UK Research Councils, The Wellcome Trust, and the EU Framework 7 Research Programme: it has extensive collaborations with other internationally recognised groups both in the UK and abroad.
The IRM has recently moved into a new purpose built Research Institute in the John Dalton Tower in central Manchester and is equipped with an impressive range of state-of-the-art equipment ranging, for example, from real-time PCR; DNA sequencing; con-focal microscopy; flow cytometry; and single muscle fibre mechanics; through to whole body MRI, DEXA, PcQT, and 3D Ultrasound scanning; X-ray video fluoroscopy; as well as Delsys EMG systems; VICON and CODA movement analysis systems.
Opportunities exist in the IRM to pursue research leading to PhD, MPhil, and MSc degrees, which are relevant to professional practice in the health and biomedical sciences: including physiotherapy, genetics and cell biology, nutrition, rehabilitation, orthopaedics, gerontology, and bioengineering, as well as the exercise, fitness and sport professions.
IRM staff make a significant contribution to a range of taught postgraduate Masters degrees and courses, including research project supervision organised through MMU’s prestigious School of Biology Chemistry and Health Science. IRM researchers also contribute to taught and research project elements of the Professional Doctorate organised through the Department of Health Care Studies.
Professor Anthony J. Sargeant
IRM Director and Research Professor in Neuromuscular
Physiology
STOP PRESS!
An exciting new MSc Human Movement and Health Science focussed
on the research expertise of the IRM senior staff is currently in an advanced
stage of development and you are invited to contact us for further details.
Philosophy and Aims
The philosophy of the IRM is succinctly summarized by the maxim of one of the father figures of biomedical sciences, Sir Joseph Barcroft (1872-1947), that: “Exercise
is not a mere variant of rest … it is the essence of the
human machine,” and thus the IRM Research Institute is committed to the study of human movement “in
sickness and in health” and “from the cradle to the
grave”.
To this end the IRM carries out research into normal and disordered human movement and health, integrating knowledge from different disciplines, and applying and disseminating that knowledge to health professionals, academics, and the public.
IRM research addresses the following inter-linked questions which are primarily, but not exclusively, associated with the research group indicated below:
How does the capability for human movement change over the life span?
Research Group: Growth, Disuse and AgeingHow do muscle and other cells grow, regenerate, and degenerate?
Research Group: Molecular and Cell BiologyHow are blood vessels formed and muscles and other tissues perfused?
Research Group: Angiogenesis and Vascular BiologyHow do muscle cells generate and sustain mechanical output?
Research Group: Neuromuscular FunctionHow is the mechanical output of muscle translated into movement?
Research Group: Musculo-skeletal MechanicsHow is that movement controlled by the central nervous system?
Research Group: Neural and Visual control of MovementHow can vulnerable populations be protected against infection?
Research Group: Infection and Immunity
