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20 the research & enterprise view
Investment in sport and exercise
medicine is on the rise. New
multi-million pound institutes of
expertise have been established,
including one at Loughborough
University. These ‘hubs’ bring together
clinicians, scientists, engineers and
researchers, all under one roof, experts
such as Loughborough’s Professor of
Musculoskeletal Biology, Mark Lewis.
Their compelling, collaborative research
could result in therapies that will improve
the quality of life for millions of people,
and help prevent diseases related to
inactivity.
Professor Lewis explained: “Advances in
tissue engineering, regenerative medicine
and stem cell technology mean we can now
‘make’ a piece of muscle that mimics how
human muscle behaves. Our in vitro muscle
models are around two centimetres long.
“There is potential to grow muscle for
transplants and reconstruction. We are
working with orthopaedic surgeons to look
at how we can attach muscle to bone for
reconstructive surgery and sports injuries.
We are also exploring how to grow muscles
and nerves together.”
He added: “During the past three to
five years we have got to the point at
Loughborough where we are really starting
to push and interrogate the systems we have
built over previous decades. We are moving
forward at some pace.”
The challenge is to
use the huge potential
of exercise as a
therapeutic tool.
To make muscle perform in ‘mini gyms’ in
the laboratory, the team uses two systems.
One is a mechanical system, where a
stepper motor is attached to the muscle and
‘stretches’ it. The motor can be set at any
variable researchers choose, so they can
really exercise the muscle hard and introduce
lots of different regimes that simulate
different types of exercise or performance.
The other system used to test muscle
performance is to use electrodes (an electric
current) to stimulate it, to make it ‘twitch’.
Researchers can use these models to
understand muscle physiology in the
laboratory, but transferring this science
to the wider population is where the real
legacy lies.
Professor Lewis said: “The challenge is
to use the huge potential of exercise as
a therapeutic tool. Whether it’s a cancer
patient, a respiratory patient, a cardiac
patient or a diabetic patient, if we can
introduce exercise into their treatment
programme, they will benefit, but it needs
to be prescribed specifically.
“A term that’s used a lot now is personalised
medicine. It’s about designing medicines that
are specific to an individual. What we need
to be able to do is get evidence out there to
medics. That’s what we are working towards,
a personalised exercise prescription, so
people exercise better and live longer.”
Professor Lewis and his team are now in
their final year of a three-year research
programme which cost £500,000 to fund.
He explained that one of the most rewarding
parts of his research in recent years has been
collaboration. He has been inspired through
working with colleagues in world-class
facilities such as the National Centre for
Sport and Exercise Medicine, which has
hubs in the East Midlands (at Loughborough),
in London and Sheffield. Also with peers in
respected institutions such University College
London Hospitals (UCLH), and partnership
work with UCL (University College London),
Nottingham University and at Keele
University, among others.
Professor Lewis said: “You find yourself in
a room with electrical engineers, chemical
engineers, sport scientists and sports
medics, bio-chemists and biologists who
historically would never have had the
occasion or opportunity to meet and talk. I
find these interactions very exciting, and I’ve
been surprised at just how well it all works.
“Collaboration is the future. There are too
many big issues and not enough resources
to give everyone a bit each. I believe
collaboration is a paradigm for the way the
world is going to be, going forward, certainly
in research and development and in ideas
and industry.”
He concluded: “It’s people coming together
with open hearts and open minds. And when
you get the right people in a room, with the
right mindsets, you can get lots done.”
want to know more?
Visit: www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ssehs
Contact: professor mark Lewis
Email: hos-ssehs@lboro.ac.uk
the research & enterprise view
21