Sheffield scientist awarded major grant for arthritis research
A Sheffield scientist has been awarded a major grant of £148,300 from the Chesterfield-based Arthritis Research Campaign for work investigating the genetic structure of rheumatoid arthritis.
Steven Dower, professor of molecular immunology at the University of Sheffield, hopes to make use of the information provided by the recently completed Human Genome Project to help find new treatments for rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an incurable auto-immune condition affecting 600,000 people in the UK, which happens when the body's own immune cells attack the joints, leading to pain, inflammation and swelling in the joints. It can strike anyone, although two out of three sufferers are women.
"The release of the human genome sequence has enormously expanded our capacity for understanding and treating diseases," explained Professor Dower, who is based at the division of molecular and genetic medicine.
"However, for most human genes, the sequence of the genome by itself does not explain what the genes does. To use the genome sequence to help us treat arthritis we need general methods to identify and analyse genes that are important in the disease.
Professor Dower and his team have developed a general method for finding genes that control the development of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, and have discovered a new family of genes which appear to turn off inflammation.
Studying this new family of genes will help develop new ways to block the inflammatory process in rheumatoid arthritis.
The Arthritis Research Campaign, whose headquarters is in Chesterfield, is the fifth biggest medical research charity in the UK, and last year spent £21 on research. It relies entirely on public donations to fund its research programme.
Sheffield is a leading centre for arthritis research, and currently receives around £2m from the charity.
