A £50m research centre will investigate whether chronic inflammatory diseases could one day be cured rather than managed with lifelong medication.
The centre, led by the University of Birmingham and funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), will study conditions including arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmune liver disease.
More than four million people in the UK are estimated to live with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), which occur when the immune system attacks healthy tissue.
Caitlin, who was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) at just 11-years-old, said living with the condition could mean taking medication for the rest of her life.
‘When you’re first diagnosed, they tell you there is no cure,’ she said. ‘It can be managed with medication and, while you may experience periods of inactive disease or remission, there’s always the possibility of a flare.
‘Although I’m fortunate that my condition is now well controlled with medication that suppresses my immune system, I face the possibility of taking a potent drug, with significant risks, for the rest of my life.’
The new centre will bring together researchers from eight UK universities and Kyoto University in Japan, who will spend the next 14 years studying why inflammation continues and whether damaged tissue can be repaired.
Researchers hope their work could lead to treatments that restore the immune system and reduce the need for lifelong medication.
- This week we also reported on a new brain clinic in Manchester that’s looking to improve early diagnosis and treatment of dementia
Inflammatory bowel disease alone is estimated to cost the NHS up to £900m a year.
Science Minister Chris McDonald said: ‘This is what scientific leadership is all about, putting our knowledge and expertise together to work towards discoveries which can make a real difference for people’s lives.
‘This groundbreaking research will help give millions of people with immune-mediated diseases some reassurance that our world-leading scientists are working to understand these diseases and the hope that we may one day be able to find a cure.’
Image: Julia Koblitz/UnSplash
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