Finally, periodontal disease and its possible role as a trigger of RA is the focus of two Within Our Reach–supported studies under the direction of Clifton Bingham III, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center and associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH, associate professor of internal medicine and rheumatology at The University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. These are but a few examples of the groundbreaking research being carried out under the auspices of the Within Our Reach program.
Next Steps
Completion of the Within Our Reach campaign has been a major accomplishment for the ACR, the REF, and the rheumatology community. This campaign has reinvigorated the RA research enterprise by accelerating the pace of discovery and catalyzing promising new lines of scientific investigation. Most importantly, these achievements provide hope and inspiration to the millions of patients with RA who need our support and care.
We are proud to have surpassed our original funding goal. However, as long as there remains a need for RA research, we will not stop leading the way; as we end one chapter, we begin another. While we are celebrating the success of Within Our Reach, we are continuing to look for ways to build on the momentum and to foster great science and collaboration in the research community. As always, we welcome your feedback as we take the next step towards these important goals.
To all our volunteers and supporters: THANK YOU for your vision, dedication, support, and leadership. Without you, we would not be where we are today.
Dr. Borenstein is clinical professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology at George Washington University Medical Center, in Washington, D.C., and in private practice at Arthritis and Rheumatism Associates there. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected]. Dr. St.Clair is president of the ACR REF and interim chief of the division of rheumatology and immunology at Duke University in Durham, N.C. Contact him at [email protected].
References
- Harris ML, Darrah E, Lam GK, et al. Association of autoimmunity to peptidyl arginine deiminase type 4 with genotype and disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2008;58:1958-1967.
- Cui J, Saevarsdottir S, Thomson B, et al. Rheumatoid arthritis risk allele PTPRC is also associated with response to anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha therapy. Arthritis Rheum. 2010;62:1849-1861.