UQ researcher to give free public lecture on rheumatoid arthritis

One of Australia's leading rheumatologists, Professor Ranjeny Thomas, will discuss the latest research into the cause, treatment and prevention of rheumatoid arthritis during a free public lecture on Wednesday, November 19 at 1.30pm.

The event is being held at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre as part of the Australian Health and Medical Research Congress.

Professor Thomas is a rheumatologist at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and research scientist at UQ's Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine.

In 2003, Professor Thomas discovered how to turn off an autoimmune disease once it has started, a discovery which led to a rheumatoid arthritis vaccine, currently in phase 1 human clinical trials at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

"Vaccines re-educate the immune system," Professor Thomas said.

"What's different here is that this vaccine targets the specific antigens underlying rheumatoid arthritis."

Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful and disabling autoimmune disease that affects one in every hundred people, the majority of whom are women.

Symptoms include pain, swelling of joints, and later deformity and loss of function in hands, knees and other joints.

In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system inappropriately attacks joints, eating away at the cartilage and eventually damaging the underlying bone.

There is currently no cure for this disease.

"Most autoimmune diseases have their onset when people are aged in their 20s to 40s, and they last a lifetime," Professor Thomas said.

Anyone wishing to attend this lecture should RSVP by Thursday, November 13 to Danielle Fischer.

Media: Professor Thomas (07 3240 5365, ranjeny.thomas@uq.edu.au) Danielle Fischer, Marketing and Communications Officer, Diamantina Institute (07 3240 6623, d.fischer@uq.edu.au)