This area focuses on the structure of proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases and inflammatory processes and on factors linked to the innate immune system. Research is also conducted in the area of osteoporosis, ageing-related macular degeneration and coagulation cascade factors closely linked to cardiovascular disease and haemophilia. Such studies are vital to the understanding of diseases of the heart, blood and nervous systems and to advances in the fields of cancer and epidemiology.