The Arthritis Research Campaign has awarded one of their prestigious 5 year Non-Clinical Career Development Fellowships to Dr. Keith Thompson in July 2008.

Keith will use the fellowship to investigate the interactions between the immune system and bone-destroying cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Joint damage in RA patients is caused by overactive immune cells releasing pro-inflammatory molecules, which stimulate bone and cartilage destruction. However, despite many years of intensive research, we still do not fully understand the exact molecular events which cause this disease. Recently, a specific type of immune cell (called gamma-delta T cells) have been found to play an important role in the triggering and/or maintenance of chronic inflammation and joint damage in various experimental models of RA. The aim of this fellowship is to characterise the role of these gamma-delta T cells in this disease so we can more fully understand the pathological processes underlying RA and hopefully reveal novel approaches to treat this crippling disease in the future.