Why We Exist
Sport has the power to improve health, wellbeing and opportunity throughout life. Yet injuries remain one of the greatest barriers to participation, affecting athletes at every age and level of sport. The Podium Institute for Sports Medicine and Technology was established to reduce the burden of sports injury across the 22 million adults and 3 million children who participate in sport annually across the UK, as well as the hundreds of millions who partake in amateur and professional sport internationally. Based within the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oxford, we bring together expertise from medicine, engineering, data science and sport to develop practical solutions that help athletes stay safer, recover better and remain active for longer, through world-leading research, technological innovation and evidence-based change.
Our ambition is simple: To ensure that athletes of all ages can participate in sport more safely, stay active for longer, and benefit from the lifelong advantages that sport provides.
Our Aims
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01
Advance KnowledgeProduce world-leading science to inspire and forge evidence-based changes in safety regulation and policy across sport. |
02
Develop SolutionsDevelop innovative technologies to monitor, analyse and prevent sport injury and drive their adoption. |
03
Drive ChangeDevise, validate and encourage the adoption of robust safety performance standards for sport equipment. |
How We Work
We combine expertise from across medicine, engineering, data science and sport to deliver meaningful improvements in athlete safety through:
- Cross-disciplinary collaboration across medicine, engineering, biomechanics, computer vision, public health and data science.
- Technology-led innovation using advanced technologies, wearable systems and analytics to improve athlete safety.
- World-class research generating evidence that improves prevention, diagnosis and management of sports-related injury.
- Real-world partnerships with governing bodies, schools, clubs and sporting organisations.
- Athlete-centred approaches that address the needs of athletes across all ages, abilities and levels of participation.
- Translational impact ensuring research informs policy, practice and safety standards across sport.
Research Focus Areas
Brain HealthImproving understanding, detection and management of sports-related brain injury. |
Musculoskeletal HealthReducing the burden of serious injuries affecting bones, joints and movement. |
Cardiovascular HealthAdvancing approaches to identifying and managing cardiac risk in sport. |
Mental Health, Sleep & CognitionUnderstanding the relationship between psychological wellbeing and injury. |
Impact Beyond Our Research
 Conference
Bringing together leaders in sport, medicine and technology to share knowledge and inspire progress. |
 Engagement
Connecting research with athletes, communities and future generations through meaningful outreach. |
 Partnerships
Working collaboratively across academia, healthcare, industry and sport to create lasting change. |