Rheumatologists win $1.2M for arthriti...( BIRMINGHAM Ala. Three researchers f...)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Three researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have been awarded a combined $1.2 million to study the underlying causes of rheumatoid arthritis and to help find a cure for the disease.

The grants were among 15 awards nationwide made through the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Research and Education Foundation.

The funds will be used by UAB experts to explore more deeply the molecular development of rheumatoid arthritis with the hope of finding new medicines and drug targets that slow or halt the disease. Another feature of UABs research will be to identify hereditary and biological differences between some arthritis patients, and whether genetic markers could improve diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Three physicians working in the UAB Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology each were awarded $400,000. Robert H. Carter, M.D., and John Mountz, M.D., won grants in the innovative basic research category; S. Louis Bridges, M.D., won a grant in the translational research category.

One of the strengths of these studies is being able take the strides that have been made in the treatment and management of rheumatoid arthritis, and build on that knowledge as we continue working toward better treatments and curative care, said Carter, director of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology.

The three projects that earned ACR funding are:

• Autoantigen-specific B cells. Testing will continue on a type of white blood cell called autoantigen-specific B cell. Researchers want to pinpoint this cells autoimmune function, its contribution to the production of antibodies and other arthritis-inducing actions. Carter is the principal investigator.

• Autoantibody production. This project will work towards new drug targets that alter cell pathways leading to autoantibodies, molecules that attack human tissues. Of special interest is a
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