12 Sep 2012
2001-2002 Sucheta M. Vaingankar, Ph.D. Veterans Medical Research Foundation, UCSD San Diego, CA With aging and/or osteoarthritis, the cartilage in joints calcifies due to crystal deposits that directly provoke inflammation, pain and cartilage degeneration. The major mediator of these crystal deposits is a chemical inorganic pyrophosphate. Dr....
12 Sep 2012
2001-2002 Alla Tsytsykova, Ph.D. The Center for Blood Research (an affiliate of Harvard Medical School) Boston, MA Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-alpha) is a protein responsible for inflammation and, ultimately, cartilage destruction in the joints of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Tsytsykova's project will study how the...
12 Sep 2012
2001-2002 Alan Stern, M.D. McGuire VA Medical Center Richmond, VA Hand Osteoarthritis (OA) is a very common form of osteoarthritis which has a genetic basis. Dr. Stern is conducting a clinical study of two hundred pairs of siblings affected by hand osteoarthritis. By analyzing the clinical and...
12 Sep 2012
2001-2002 Wolfgang Hueber, M.D. Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford, CA Dr. Hueber will study a novel animal model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus), utilizing powerful new technology called protein microarray technique, to identify and characterize the immune response. This research holds great promise for...
12 Sep 2012
2001-2002 Xin Dong, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Pittsburgh, PA More than 80 percent of rheumatoid arthritis patients produce antibodies against their own immune system, called rheumatoid factors. It is believed that rheumatoid factor production by B cells is controlled by specific "antibody-reactive" T cells....
12 Sep 2012
2001-2002 Recipient of the Sontag Foundation Fellowship of the Arthritis National Research Foundation Mireille Delhase, Ph.D. University of California San Diego, CA Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a common chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by joint inflammation and progressive cartilage destruction. Molecules, called cytokines, produced by cells from the immune...
12 Sep 2012
2001-2002 Karen Costenbader, M.D. Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA Dr. Costenbader is conducting a randomized, double-blind study of 50 lupus patients to determine the appropriate dosing level of Pravastatin, an oral medication proven to reduce cholesterol levels in the general population. No studies have been done...
12 Sep 2012
2002-2003 In vivo real time imaging of proteinase activity in arthritis mouse models Koichiro Ohmura, M.D., Ph.D. Joslin Diabetes Center (affiliated with Harvard Medical School) Boston, MA Dr. Ohmura is perfecting an imaging technology with the potential to greatly benefit the diagnosis of, research on and monitoring the...
12 Sep 2012
2002-2003 Immunomodulatory CD28 Peptides in the treatment of Collagen-Induced Arthritis Mythily Srinivasan, M.D.S., Ph.D. Ohio State University Columbus, OH The goals of Dr. Srinivasan’s study are to explore the therapeutic advantages of preventing and improving arthritis through treatment with a synthetic peptide. They will use a mouse model...
12 Sep 2012
2002-2003 Interleukin-4 Potentiates Peripheral Deletion of Autoreactive Th1 Cells in Proteoglycan-Induced Arthritis Jian Zhang, M.D. Rush-Presbyterian – St. Luke’s Medical Center Chicago, IL Dr. Zhang is studying the mechanism of treating RA with a cytokine called Interleukin-4, which is thought to retard the disease development by inducing apoptosis...
