Sheffield scientists awarded major grant by arthritis charity
Scientists at Sheffield University have been awarded a major grant of £116,184 by the Chesterfield-based medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign for work into rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis affects around 600,000 people in the UK. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks itself, leading to severe inflammation of the lining of the joints, resulting in pain, swelling and fatigue.
Dr Gerry Wilson, consultant rheumatologist and senior lecturer in molecular medicine and rheumatology at the University of Sheffield, will spend the next three years heading up an investigation of the role of a disease-causing molecule called tumour necrosis factor (TNF).
Dr Wilson's work is part of a major ARC-sponsored on-going research programme exploring the molecular genetic profiling of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The research involves studying the molecules responsible for inflammation or degeneration of joints; as it is increasingly recognised that disorders from which patients suffer are a combination of their own genetic structure, and the environment in which they live.
Scientists at Sheffield University's department of molecular and genetic medicine were the first researchers to reveal that the cytokines (chemical messengers) TNF and IL-1 were found in high levels of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and later discovered that these were the key agents in the inflammatory process which leads to the destruction of cartilage and bone.
Dr Wilson is now looking at genetic variation within the TNF gene to find out exactly what it does, and where and how it does it. "There is a lot of evidence that variation of the gene is important in determining people's susceptibility to a number of diseases," he explained.
This latest grant is Dr Wilson's third award by the charity. Previously it sponsored his PhD studies, and funded a one-year Copeman Travel Fellowship to Stanford University in the US.
Sheffield is a leading centre for ARC-funded research into arthritis. The city is currently in receipt of 17 ARC grants totalling £1.8m.
