Neuromechanics and Musculoskeletal Biomechanics

Here the aim is to understand fundamental mechanisms of positive and negative adaptations to physical loading in sports and everyday life contexts. We join biomechanics and neurophysiologic/motor control research methods to:

• Understand acute and long-term sports injury mechanisms
• Investigate the processes of multi-layered adaptation during training, rehabilitation and return to play
• Assess the influence of equipment, training and conditioning strategies in fundamental, clinical and applied research contexts

This area has a focus on the interrelations between movement and loading of the musculoskeletal system of the human body on the macroscopic level to optimize clinical, technological and training related interventions. With translational and applied research approaches we aim to provide solutions to:

• improve athletic performance and movement quality
• avoid musculoskeletal injuries in everyday life, in sports and in workplace environments
• accelerate and optimize rehabilitation processes.

Research on the interaction of the musculoskeletal system and technology in sports, clinics and at the work place is one of the major foci. The effect and effectiveness of training and therapy on movement execution and musculoskeletal load is another research emphasis of the group. It integrates multidisciplinary expertise in orthopaedic biomechanics, human-technology interaction and sports biomechanics.

The aim here is to study the basic mechanisms of bone and cartilage homeostasis and remodelling as well as the pathomechanisms of degeneration influenced by mechanical loading and unloading. We investigate the modelling and remodelling of both bone and cartilage from the cell to the whole-body level with a focus on:

• Interaction between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM)
• Transduction pathways involved in mechanical signalling
• Osteoarthritis and osteoporosis