Tackling Rheumatoid Arthritis & Beyond

In the fall of 2021, the Arthritis Foundation’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee assembled a working group of experts from government and academia to help refine and focus our priorities in rheumatoid arthritis research. Additional discussions about RA research gaps and unmet medical needs will occur during the Virtual Science Symposium on Nov. 18, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Working Group 

Mary (Peggy) Crow, MD (Chair)	Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS)
Jennifer Anolik, MD, PhD	University of Rochester
Laura Cappelli, MD	Johns Hopkins University
Stanley Cohen, MD	Metroplex Clinical Research Center, Dallas
V. Michael Holers, MD	University of Colorado
Yvonne Lee, MD, MMSc	Northwestern University
Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH	University of Nebraska Medical Center
David Pisetsky, MD, PhD	Duke University
William H. Robinson, MD, PhD	Stanford University
Jeffrey Siegel, MD, PhD	FDA CDER

 

Areas of opportunity for rheumatoid arthritis research being discussed by the working group include: 

Initiation and Evolution of Disease 

-Genetic risk and contributions of rare variants 

-Environmental triggers – e.g., microbial, metabolic 

-Regulation of protein modification 

-Lessons from early-/pre-RA 

 

Pathogenic Mechanisms 

-Transition from biologic risk to breaking immune tolerance 

-Transition from systemic to joint-localized disease 

-Adaptive immune system-stromal interactions 

 

Disease Phenotypes 

-Mechanisms of seronegative RA 

-Biomarkers of severe disease/prognosis 

-Lessons from Accelerated Medicines Partnership – synovial endophenotypes 

 

Comorbidities 

-Mechanisms of cardiovascular disease 

-Mechanisms of bone resorption 

-Implications of comorbidities for patient management 

 

Therapeutic Response 

-Refractory RA – responders vs. non-responders 

-Strategies and biomarkers for response, remission and de-escalation 

-Stratification for therapeutic trials 

-Contributions of pain to treatment response 

 

Patient Management 

-Comparative effectiveness of current therapies 

-Patient compliance 

-Management of residual pain 

-Sleep and diet  

-Point of care ultrasound and wearable technology