New funding awarded to researchers at the University of Exeter for pioneering osteoporosis research
The Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) has announced the successful applicants of its largest ever research grants round, after reviewing a record number of applications.
Half of women and one fifth of men will break a bone due to osteoporosis. The charity’s research grants programme aims to change that, by offering researchers at various stages in their careers the opportunity to apply for funding that will allow them to undertake pioneering research and improve our understanding of osteoporosis.
One of the successful applicants from this year’s research grant round, Dr Victoria Stiles from the University of Exeter, submitted a research proposal into the validity of using smartphones to monitor bone-specific activity. Dr Stiles, like all of the seven successful applicants from the research grants round, put forward a research proposal that aligned with the ROS Research Roadmap and involves people living with osteoporosis in the research.
Dr Stiles, University of Exeter, said: “We’re delighted to receive an Innovative Grant from the Royal Osteoporosis Society. It will enable us to assess the potential of using smartphones to monitor characteristics of physical activity most relevant to bone health. We’ll also gain important insights about the acceptability of using smartphones to help individuals incorporate small amounts of bone-specific activity into their everyday lives to help prevent osteoporosis. We’re very much looking forward to getting started.”
Dr Caroline Sangan, Research Manager at the ROS, said: “We’ve been really impressed with the quality of applications we received as part of this year’s research grants programme. Five project grants, one early career grant and one innovative grant have been chosen.
“Each application was reviewed by our Research Grants Assessment Panel before being peer reviewed, to ensure that we fund research of the highest standard that also meets our objectives as a charity. We were pleased to see this year’s successful applicants included detailed plans on how they’d involve individuals with experience of osteoporosis in their research, with over 50% even including them as a co-applicant.”
Find out more about the research grants programme and our current research projects.
