Computational biomechanics to track bone vascular health and fracture risk.

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Bone adapts to mechanical loads by changing its overall geometry, microstructure and tissue properties such as degree of mineralisation. These functional bone adaptations are closely coupled to the bones' vascular health, maintaining overall bone strength and fracture resistance. There is an acknowledged divergence in age-related bone fracture risk between men and women. Demanding exercise regimes are known to compromise bone health in women including athletes. Further, sexual dimorphism in fracture risk has been reported in young active individuals, with lower limb fracture occurrence reported to be 3-fold higher in women than men during military training. This PhD studentship will utilise state-of-the-art imaging techniques and finite element modelling to assess bone microstructure and function following extreme exercise regimes used within the military and by athletes. This project offers a unique interdisciplinary programme at the engineering, life science, and biomedical interface with shared support from the Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences and the Faculty of the Environment and Life Sciences at the University of Southampton. The student will directly collaborate with researchers at the School of Biological Sciences and u-VIS X-ray Imaging Centre, while benefiting from the exceptional opportunity to gain expertise in cutting-edge bioimaging technologies, computational engineering approaches and our translational efforts to change the life for the better, based on engineering and biomedical expertise.