Adult inflammatory arthritis

Inflammatory arthritis is an umbrella term used for a group of arthritic conditions which cause pain, stiffness and damage to joints including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. These conditions are caused when our immune system mistakenly attacks our joints, leaving them inflamed and painful. Other body systems and organs can also be attacked, which is what makes these conditions complex and harder to understand.

Our research has already made significant advances for people with inflammatory arthritis. This includes the discovery of anti-TNF, a revolutionary new treatment, as well as the development of a best practice tariff for treating rheumatoid arthritis.

However, treatment responses and long-term management of these conditions vary from person to person. Sometimes several therapies need to be tried before symptoms are relieved. This will continue to happen, until more research is done to push back.

The Adult Inflammatory Arthritis Research Advisory Group is made up of people with arthritis, healthcare professionals, scientists, and researchers. Together, they aim to create a future where people with inflammatory arthritis have access to more personalised and effective treatments at all stages of their condition.

The group hopes to achieve this by identifying where there are strengths and gaps in our knowledge of inflammatory arthritis. We will use this to communicate the importance and need for more research with other organisations that fund or influence inflammatory arthritis research.

We hope this will lead to funding of vital research needed to develop consistent, personalised treatments for people with inflammatory arthritis.

Conditions the group focus on include:

• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Peripheral and axial spondyloarthritis (also known as ankylosing spondylitis)
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Enteropathic-associated arthritis (arthritis which is linked to bowel disease including Chrohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis)
• Seronegative arthritis (the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis without the presence of certain antibodies in the blood)
• Pathophysiological mechanism of septic arthritis
• Other adult inflammatory arthritis conditions.

• Dr Arthur Pratt. Clinical Senior Lecturer, Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist - Newcastle University
• Professor Carl Goodyear. Professor of Translational Immunology - University of Glasgow
• Mr David Chandler. Research Partner - Versus Arthritis Research Partner Group
• Doctor Ken Baker. Senior Clinical Fellow - Newcastle University
• Dr Lesley-Anne Bissell. NIHR Clinical Lecturer - University of Leeds
• Professor Nicole Horwood. Professor of Musculoskeletal Medicince - University of East Anglia
• Doctor Pauline Ho. Consultant Rheumatologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer - University of Manchester
• Dr Sarah Twigg. Consultant Rheumatologist - Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust
• Ms Sarah Annalls. Practice Development Nurse - Sciensus
• Ms Susan Burn. Research Partner - Versus Arthritis Research Partner Group
• Dr Suzanne Verstappen. Reader in Musculoskeletal Epidemiology - University of Manchester
• Dr William Tillett. Senior Lecturer, Consultant Rheumatologist - University of Bath

For further information about current vacancies, please see our News for Researchers page