Our primary purpose is to use our funding to encourage breakthrough research and education programmes in bone, joint and muscle wellbeing and thereby reduce the burden of poor musculoskeletal health on individuals, workplaces and our health system.

We fund innovative research projects in the UK that expand knowledge, improve patient outcomes and pioneer new forms of diagnosis and treatment. Our investment makes a real difference to the lives of millions of people suffering from poor orthopaedic health, today and into the future.

Clinical and scientific research is key to the advancement of knowledge and expertise within medical schools in universities and hospitals. Through our funding, these institutions are able to provide academic research positions or research fellowships that may not otherwise be possible. This opens up new research areas and directly benefits early-career to experienced researchers. Surgeons also benefit from access to cutting-edge research and improved training, helping them to provide better diagnosis, treatment and outcomes to patients.

The value of our research programme during 2021/22 will be £1m, which represents a doubling of investment since 2020/21. This figure includes £800K for the ORUK Research Fund 2021 and £210K for research in partnership with others including the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, British Hip Society and British Orthopaedic Association.

Since 2004 we have invested £11m on research on 140 projects in the UK. Over the next three years we plan to invest a further £2.5 on research and attract £0.5m in partner contributions. In this document we outline how we intend to invest this research funding over the next three years to achieve our strategic vision.

Our research objectives

We fund MSK research in the areas of diagnosis and treatment to:

• Expand knowledge.
• Improve patient outcomes.
• Pioneer new forms of treatment.
• Improve support for patients.
• Ease the burden on the NHS.
• Develop our understanding of MSK conditions.

Our measures for success are:

• Increased awareness of our research among professionals and patients.
• The nurturing of talent within the field of MSK medicine.
• The recruitment of advocates for our research within the broader MSK community.
• Securing co-funding from partners for our research projects.
• Peer-reviewed publications of the results of our funded research

The results of research are generally readily available in the public domain through the publication of results in the media and the public presentation of research projects.

These presentations and publications are always peer reviewed to ensure a consistently high quality of research.