Tag Archives: arthritis foundation research

Dr. James Martin Arthritis Research

Researchers on the Path to a Cure – Spotlight on Dr. James Martin

What if injured joints could heal themselves before they develop osteoarthritis (OA)? Dr. James Martin’s current 3-year Arthritis Foundation-funded project, “Engineering Endogenous Cartilage Repair,” is trying to do just that- find ways to help joints heal before developing OA.

Dr. Martin and his team use special goats that have defects in areas of the thigh bones and cartilage, just above the knee. This closely mimics knee injuries that are seen in humans. The defects are surgically repaired with a hydrogel matrix that contains two important ingredients: repair cell attractant and growth factor. The repair cell attractant causes repair cells, called chondrogenic progenitor cells (CPCs), to migrate into the hydrogel. CPCs naturally occur in the cartilage. The growth factor, which is time-released over 10 days, causes the CPCs in the hydrogel to multiply and repair the injury with new cartilage.
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Dr. Martin Kriegel - Arthritis Research

Researchers on the Path to a Cure – Spotlight on Dr. Martin Kriegel

Trillions of bacteria live in or on your body. There are actually as many bacteria in your body as cells in your body. Fortunately, for most of us, most bacteria that live within us are helpful, not harmful. We call these bacteria commensal bacteria. Dr. Martin Kriegel and his team have been studying these bacteria, and more specifically, a protein that humans and bacteria produce, called Ro60, that plays a role in the development of lupus.

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Dr. Jose Scher RA Research

Researchers on the Path to a Cure – Spotlight on Dr. Jose Scher

Dr. Jose U. Scher, a current Arthritis Foundation-funded investigator, has been looking at the relationship between bacteria and inflammatory diseases for more than 10 years. Dr. Scher’s current Arthritis Foundation funded project, “Pan-Microbiome in At-Risk Subjects and New-Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA),” looks at the relationship of bacteria (or “microbiome” in the mouth, lungs, and intestines) and the development of RA.
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Dr. Delesha Carpenter arthritis research

Researchers on the Path to a Cure – Spotlight on Dr. Delesha Carpenter

Many of us go to multiple doctors’ appointments throughout the year. Between those appointments, work, family life and other things it can be hard to process and remember the information your doctor tells you. One of our funded researchers, Dr. Delesha Carpenter is looking at how well Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients recall information about newly prescribed DMARDs – disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Her 3-year Arthritis Foundation funded research project, called “Understanding how RA patients process conflicting information about DMARDs”, was recently presented at the 2016 ACR Annual Meeting & Conference in November.
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Arthritis Research Clinical Trials

Improving the Landscape of Clinical Trials – Together

Did you know there is an organization dedicated to identifying and promoting practices to increase the quality and efficiency of clinical trials? There is! And the Arthritis Foundation is a part of it. The Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) is a public-private partnership cofounded by the FDA and Duke University that exists solely to improve clinical trials. The Arthritis Foundation is part of the steering committee at CTTI, which is made up of representatives from CTTI members across multiple sectors and provides input into decisions about CTTI priorities, projects and recommendations.
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Arthritis Foundation Knowles Lecture

Highlights of the 50th Annual Knowles Lecture

Earlier this month, the Medical and Scientific Committee of the Arthritis Foundation, Northern California office held the 50th Annual Knowles Lecture at the Mission Bay Conference Center at the University of California, San Francisco.

The Knowles Lecture was established with a leadership gift from Harold W. Knowles to the Arthritis Foundation’s Northern California office in 1966. For 50 years, internationally renowned scientific and clinical leaders from universities and medical centers have addressed leading issues in the care and treatment of arthritis and related diseases.
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