At its national meeting in November 2009, the Arthritis Foundation (AF) recognized the accomplishments of two leading professionals who have worked to improve the lives of patients with rheumatic disease—one in the area of clinical research, the other in patient advocacy and public policy. The foundation awarded the Lee C. Howley, Sr. Prize for Research in Arthritis to John O’Shea, MD, scientific director of the intramural research program at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., for his work in identifying a new class of drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and arthritis-related diseases. The foundation also awarded the Charles B. Harding Award for Distinguished Service to Laura Robbins, DSW, vice president of education and academic affairs at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Robbins has volunteered in a leadership capacity with the foundation for close to 25 years and has conducted numerous research studies on how patients cope with debilitating rheumatologic diseases.
Jaks as Drug Target
The Howley Prize recognizes researchers whose work in the previous five years represents a significant advancement in the understanding, treatment, or prevention of arthritis and rheumatic disease. It is named after the former chair of Revco DS, Inc., who was instrumental in the establishment of the Revco Arthritis Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
“I am delighted to win this award; I can’t be happier,” says Dr. O’Shea. “All researchers convince themselves that the work they are doing will lead to better treatment and maybe even a cure for disease,” he adds. “This award recognizes the struggles and the ups and downs that took place over a decade and a half of work.”
In the early 1990s, Dr. O’Shea became the first researcher to clone human Jak 3. Jaks are essential for cytokine signaling. His research has resulted in the elucidation of biochemical mechanisms of signal transduction in immunologic reactions and defined the molecular basis of immunodeficiencies. He identified key biological steps by which cytokines exert their effects in immunologic and rheumatic diseases. These findings have led to the development of a new class of immunosuppressive drugs. Dr. O’Shea is leading a current phase III trial of a drug that will hopefully be shown to block this Jak inhibitor. “This drug will block Jaks and presumably have the same effects as the new drugs that target cytokines, but it is in pill form, and that makes it much more convenient for patients,” he says. The result, he hopes, will be dramatic improvement in the treatment options for patients with RA and arthritis-related diseases.
Dr. O’Shea says his research on Jak inhibitors started years ago when he was treating a patient with a mutation of Jak 3; however, his first foray into the field of rheumatology was when he went to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH as a resident in the early 1980s. “I had a patient with vasculitis who blew me away. I didn’t know much about the NIH or research and had no bench experience, but I knew I wanted to help this woman and patients like her,” he says. He went on to do additional postdoctoral work in the Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch at the National Institute of Child Health and Development. In 1989, Dr. O’Shea established his own group at the National Cancer Institute and moved to NIAMS in 1994 as chief of the lymphocyte cell biology section of the arthritis and rheumatology branch. He was named chief of the Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch in 2002 and was named scientific director of the research program at NIAMS in 2005.
In 2009, Dr. O’Shea received another prestigious award for his scientific accomplishments. In May, he was awarded the Irish Society for Immunology Public Lecture Award. Each year the society recognizes an outstanding immunologist. As the winner of this award, Dr. O’Shea was invited by the Royal Dublin Society to lecture on his work.
“I realize that many people are doing outstanding research. To me, being recognized for my work is like winning an Olympic event by a small fraction of a second,” says Dr. O’Shea.
Advocacy and Volunteerism
The Harding Award recognizes a volunteer who has provided leadership and direction to the AF. It was named in memory of one of the foundation’s prominent volunteer leaders. Harding was head of the investment bank Smith Barney and Co., and also served as president and vice chair of the Arthritis Foundation for a 20-year period.
“I am totally overwhelmed and humbled, particularly when I think of others who have received this award,” says Robbins. One of the previous winners, Charles Christian, MD, chief physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery, presented Robbins with the 2009 award. “I was so moved and surprised,” she adds.
Robbins is a champion for patients with rheumatic disease. She says she became interested in helping adults and children with arthritis by accident when she was working part time in the rheumatology clinic as an undergraduate student at State University of New York Downstate in Brooklyn, N.Y. “The physician in charge put me in the clinic with patients, and I was so touched by the courage of people to cope that I decided to study more in the area of training and research,” she says.
Robbins has held leadership roles with the AF on both the national and local levels. She chaired the national board of directors in 2005 and 2006 and served in several leadership roles with the New York Arthritis Foundation, including the board of directors, vice chair, and treasurer. She is also a past president of the National Arthritis Health Professions Association and board member–at-large at the ACR. She has also held several other positions with the ACR.
Robbins recently partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the NIH on a major public health agenda that was announced in early February to raise awareness about arthritis as a major public health issue. She has pushed for increased federal funding to encourage more physicians to choose pediatric rheumatology as a subspecialty. For the past four years, Robbins has worked with the AF and the ACR to get Congress to support the “Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act.” The key provisions of the bill include portability of health plans, insurance coverage for medications for children with rheumatic disease, and increased funding for basic science and translational research on rheumatic disease.
She has spent much of her career over the past 20 years doing both basic science and translational research. Her many studies include research into cognitive rehabilitation intervention and quality of life for patients with lupus, clinical and economic outcomes of patients with total joint replacement, and educational interventions for lupus patients experiencing signs of cognitive dysfunction.
Robbins is the editor of the book, Clinical Care in Rheumatic Diseases, published by the ARHP. In addition to her position at the Hospital for Special Surgery, she is also an associate professor at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
In all of these roles, Robbins says she has strived to be an advocate for people with rheumatic disease. “My primary goal has always been to raise the awareness of the public and elected officials about the needs of people with rheumatic disease,” says Robbins.
Terry Hartnett is a medical journalist based in Pittsburgh.
