We hear from grant awardees, and from Prof Susanna Proudman on the evolving program.
The Australian Rheumatology Association and Arthritis Australia have announced grant recipients for the 2024 National Research Program.
There were 75 applications this year, whittled down to the 10 successful recipients across a range of research areas.
The ARA Ken Muirden Overseas Training Fellowship for recent trainees was awarded to Melbourne rheumatologist Dr Talia Igel, who’s working on a multi-centre international study looking into identifying ancestry-specific lupus molecular profiles that could uncover new genetic causes of SLE.
“I’m new to the study,” Dr Igel told Rheumatology Republic, “but the aim of this project is to identify the molecular foundation of ancestry-related differences in SLE patients’ clinical phenotype using a multi-omics approach – that is, by simultaneously studying genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic variation).
“This will allow us to determine if differences in genetic make-up among groups from different ancestral backgrounds contribute to the different biological and clinical expression of SLE in these groups.”
Identifying molecular pathways that explain clinical diversity in patients with SLE from different backgrounds can help categorise expected responses to treatment, and may also identify new treatment targets, Dr Igel said.
“Ultimately, this research aims to create better individualised care for patients living with SLE.”
Dr Igel says her main research work and training will be done through Professor Tim Vyse’s lupus genetics unit and the Centre for Rheumatic Diseases at King’s College London.
She’s planning to head off in March next year and intends to make the most of her time in London.
“I’m excited about walking from work to the West End to watch as many musical theatre performances as I can during the week – and trying my luck with budget European airlines to jet off to other European cities on the weekends!”
The inaugural ARA Philip Robinson Memorial Award has been given to Dr Mandana Nikpour, who’s looking at gene signatures in scleroderma skin and working towards molecular disease classification and personalised treatment targets.
“The ARA Philip Robinson award is partly a recognition of track record for that individual, as well as their projects,” said Professor Susanna Proudman, the medical director of Arthritis Australia and long-time member of the grants assessment committee.
“Philip was an early-to-mid-career researcher himself and he was very collaborative, so the award reflects some of his values.”
Another of the grant recipients is Dr Claire Owen, who will use the funds to undertake a world-first study to evaluate PET/CT’s ability to monitor disease activity in PMR and look at relationships with key biomarkers that may be more feasible for use in everyday clinical practice.
“The changes in the cells of the immune system with PMR treatment are unknown. It would be particularly useful to understand how such changes matched up with changes on scans, as then we could better understand what drives those changes,” Dr Owen told Rheumatology Republic.
The project will be undertaken as part of STERLING-PMR, a joint NHMRC-NIHR funded project evaluating the utility of methotrexate and leflunomide as steroid-sparing agents in PMR. Professor Catherine Hill is the lead investigator in Australia and Professor Sarah Mackie from Leeds in the UK.
The 2024 National Research Program funding ranges from $20,000 for grants in aid to $100,000 for the ARA Ken Muirden Fellowship, and much of the funding comes from the ARA research fund, Professor Proudman told Rheumatology Republic.
“They oversee the grants in aid, project grants, the Philip Robinson and Ken Muirden fellowships, and indirectly the ARA Victorian Fellowship. Other funding comes from ARA affiliates, and Arthritis Australia made a donation this year.
“The ARA research fund is a well-established entity now. It was originally set up from members’ donations and additions to the subscriptions to ARA membership back in the day, and they’ve built up a reasonable corpus now, which is good news for the ARA and rheumatology research in Australia generally.”
The grants cover various career stages, from rheumatology trainees and early career rheumatologists to people studying for a Masters’ or PhD, and post-docs and mid-career researchers, including allied health professionals.
When reviewing and assessing the grant applications, Professor Proudman says there’s an emphasis on projects having translational value, and increasingly on consumer involvement.
“We have consumers on the grant assessment committee to help review the grants, and would like to increase that consumer engagement to involvement in the actual research that is funded.
“That’s the focus of a specific Arthritis Australia project at the moment, and will have some impact on its research program, both in how we deliver it now and even potentially on its structure moving forward.
“We encourage researchers who make applications to involve consumers right from the beginning when they’re planning their projects, and demonstrate to the assessment committee how they’ve done that and how they intend to continue involving consumers in their project into the future.”
You can find more information about the grants and current and past recipients on the ARA Research Fund website and the Arthritis Australia National Research Program website.
