About ACAMH
The Aberdeen Centre for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health (ACAMH) brings together scientists, clinicians, and allied health professionals based at the Foresterhill Health Campus and Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen. It is a joint venture between the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen, and NHS Grampian. The centre aims to facilitate innovative interdisciplinary clinical, research and training activities within the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian. Our members work together to improve the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions.
The Centre seeks to understand disease mechanisms in inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis and conditions with chronic pain as a key feature. Our research skills span discovery science, stem cells and regenerative medicine, biomaterials science for cartilage and bone tissue engineering, MRI technology, epidemiology and health services research. Our mechanistic studies, epidemiological studies and “real world” evidence from disease registers inform randomised controlled trials of disease management, which in turn feeds into our work on designing, implementing and evaluating health services for patients with these conditions
The Centre is headed by Professor Cosimo De Bari , our Centre Director, and is supported by Centre Deputy Director Professor Gary Macfarlane .
Our aims
- Increase integration across different academic disciplines working in the area of arthritis and musculoskeletal health
- Enhance connectivity across the musculoskeletal research and clinical community in the North East of Scotland
- Promote translation of research activities to improve the treatment and care of patients with arthritis
- Promote musculoskeletal education, care and wellbeing for the people of North East Scotland, including rural areas
- Provide a teaching framework for undergraduate and postgraduate musculoskeletal education
- Recruit and steer junior doctors and trainees into clinical academic career pathways in musculoskeletal medicine
EULAR Centre of Excellence in Rheumatology
ACAMH has held “Centre of Excellence in Rheumatology” status by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) since 2010, which is currently renewed until 2026.
Find out more
You can find more information about ACAMH at the Centre's webpages at https://www.abdn.ac.uk/acamh .