Cluster Champions
Ever wondered about how new medications are discovered?
The Cluster Champions, who are a group of patient and parents working alongside the Cluster Consortium, have worked with the Cluster Industry Committee and Cluster Researchers to develop an infographic to describe the journey of drug development. You can download this and see an interactive version here:
https://www.clusterconsortium.org.uk/patients-and-parents/drug-development-journey-and-durations/
The world’s first high-dimensional study of joints of children who have arthritis reveals new clues in the tissue.
For the first time, researchers have been studying small samples of tissue from the inflamed joints of children and young people with JIA. This work and the new understanding it brings could pave the way for more personalised treatments, enabling the teams to select the most effective treatment for any individual.
Many of you may have seen the short news item about this on ITV but if you missed it, you can catch up here
We are sharing the lay summary, a short description of the study with analysis of this image and what the colours represent.
Our thanks go to the children, young people and their families involved for allowing researchers to use their joint tissue. And we would also like to thank the research teams involved from University of Birmingham, University College London, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital and University of Oxford.
Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology
12 years ago, most rheumatology research focused only on adults or younger children. Adolescents often ‘missed out’ both in research and healthcare, leaving a big knowledge gap about this time of transition.
In 2012, the research teams at University College London (UCL) teamed up with rheumatology clinical teams at University College London Hospital (UCLH) and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). Together, they created the Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology, co-funded by Versus Arthritis and Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, where doctors, nurses, researchers and patients work together on research projects that focus on adolescent health. This unique collaboration has led the way for a pioneering commitment to enhance and transform rheumatology care and research for young people.
You can read all about their work here:
Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology – Impact Report
Joint Care Report
We are pleased to announce that NCEPOD has released a new report – ‘Joint Care?’ – A review of the quality of care provided to children and young adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).
Click HERE to go to the study page where you can download the full report, summaries and additional QI resources. Please ask your healthcare team/GP if they have seen it.
Click here to watch the webinar recording marking the release of ‘Joint Care?’
A day in the life of a blood sample for research.
Ever wondered what happens to your blood when you give it for research?
We are very excited to bring you this brand new ‘behind-the-scenes’ film made in collaboration with a young person with JIA. You can get exclusive access to follow a research blood sample right inside the lab alongside researcher Nia.
Take a sneak peek into the freezers, have a look down the microscope and check out the super speedy centrifuge!
We hope this will be interesting for anyone giving blood for research, for those having one-off or regular blood tests and for anyone keen on the science of what happens to blood in the lab.
Click here to watch the film on TikTok! https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRSbPs8p/
NB: As with all our content, we recommend that parents of younger children watch this themselves first before sharing with their child.