International Olympic Committee (IOC) Research Centre Launch

The new International Olympic Committee Research Centre between Edinburgh and Bath has now launched

The University of Edinburgh and Bath came together on the 28th of March at Moray House School of Education and Sport to celebrate the launch of the new International Olympic Committee (IOC) Research Centre, with speeches from Head of School, Professor David Smith, and University of Edinburgh Principal, Professor Sir Peter Mathieson. The Centre is a collaboration of sports science research experts from the University of Edinburgh and Bath on injury and illness prevention in sport, one of only eleven worldwide, focusing on athlete health and injury prevention.

Dr Debbie Palmer of Moray House and Professor Keith Stokes from the University of Bath are co-directors of the Edinburgh – Bath IOC Research Centre. Helping them connect multidisciplinary expertise in academic and clinical teaching both nationally and internationally are Dr Andrew Murray (FASIC), Dr Iain Murray (Edinburgh Orthopaedics) and members of the Edinburgh Sports Medicine Research Network, and; Dr Carly McKay and members of the Centre for Health and Injury and Illness Prevention in Sport. The team will cover themes including sports injury and illness prevention, sports and exercise medicine, and orthopaedics to help translate research into clinical practice.

Dr Palmer believes collaboration between the two Universities will make a real-world difference:

“We’re delighted to partner with colleagues in Bath in this new IOC Research Centre and look forward to building upon our current work and collaborations, both nationally and internationally.“Working together will help improve our understanding about current athlete health issues, provide new knowledge, and deliver impactful research that can translate to make a real-world difference. By working collectively, we will be better placed to protect athlete health.” 

Professor Stokes agrees adding:

“The opportunity to engage with a global network of research and clinical specialists will further develop our ability to deliver high-quality research that makes a real difference to the safety and welfare of athletes across all levels of sport.

National and international collaborations will help us to answer questions more quickly and will ensure that we can reach more athletes in our effort to make all sport safer and at all levels.” 

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