Working in partnership
We work in partnership with others to maximise the impact of our research funding and allow us to achieve more than we could do on our own. We work with organisations across the UK and abroad including other research funders, universities, hospitals and commercial organisations. Some examples of our exciting partnership work are highlighted below.
Musculoskeletal translational research collaboration
An introduction to the UKMSK TRC
An introduction to the UKMSK TRC from the previous Chair, Professor Costantino Pitzalis
What is the UK MSK TRC?
The UK Musculoskeletal Translational Research Collaboration (UK MSK TRC) is a joint initiative between Versus Arthritis and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for early phase translational research. The collaboration brings together our previous investment in Experimental Arthritis and Osteoarthritis Treatment Centres with the NIHR infrastructure through their relevant Biomedical Research Centres.
By bringing together national expertise in musculoskeletal translational research, the collaboration aims to create a UK-wide ambition and focus to drive cutting edge translational research and will move us closer towards a world free from pain, fatigue and isolation of arthritis. The UK MSK TRC will also provide industry with streamlined access to world leading academic clinicians and scientists with expertise in conditions including:
- connective tissue diseases
- inflammatory arthritis
- osteoarthritis
- pain
In addition, by providing a network of expertise and a collaboration in which to undertake clinical studies, we hope that this collaboration will stimulate industry activity in musculoskeletal research and will play a role in increasing the investment in musculoskeletal research to levels that equate the scale of the impact of arthritis.
The UK MSK TRC works collaboratively with all sectors of the health and care ecosystem including the life sciences industry, charities and other funders to further research in musculoskeletal disorders and to help develop new diagnostics and treatments. Areas of unmet need are regularly reviewed to determine emerging topics that could become a focus for the group.
Patient and public involvement and engagement is a central theme of the TRC approach, through a strong relationship people with arthritis via both Versus Arthritis and the NIHR.
“By working together, we can accelerate the development of new treatments, devices and diagnostics to tackle complex areas of unmet healthcare needs.”
UK MSK TRC partner organisations
| Lead academic | Centre |
|---|---|
| Professor Costantino Pitzalis | Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, Barts Health NHS Trust; Queen Mary University of London |
| Professor David Isenberg | NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre |
| Dr Laura Coates | NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre |
| Professor John Isaacs | NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre |
| Professor Maya Buch - Chair | NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre |
| Dr Andrew Filer | NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre |
| Dr Natasha Jordan | NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre |
| Dr Matthew Pickering | NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre |
| Professor Andrew Cope | NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ Biomedical Research Centre |
| Professor David Walsh | NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre and Pain Centre Versus Arthritis |
| Dr Francesco Del Galdo | NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre |
| Professor Chris Edwards | NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre |
| Professor Michael Beresford | University of Liverpool; Experimental Arthritis Treatment Centre for Children |
| Professor Athimalaipet Ramanan | NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre and EATC4Children |
| Professor Ernest Choy | Cardiff Regional Experimental Arthritis Treatment and Evaluation Centre (CREATE) |
| Professor Iain McInnes | University of Glasgow; Research into Inflammatory Arthritis Centre Versus Arthritis (RACE) |
For more details, or to find out how you can collaborate with us, please contact Caroline Aylott at research@versusarthrtis.org.
Arthritis Research UK MQ Fellows award
We joined with mental health research charity, MQ: Transforming Mental Health, to award a fellowship to Dr Sam Norton at King’s College London in 2016. The project aims to create an app to help healthcare professionals track symptoms and identify people with rheumatoid arthritis at risk of ongoing problems, including mental health issues. We awarded the 2017 MQ fellows award to Dr Jessica Eccles from Brighton and Sussex Medical School, who will be creating and testing a new therapy to treat anxiety in people with hypermobility. We will be looking to fund more fellowships alongside MQ.
Medical Research Council
The MRC funds research across the biomedical spectrum, from fundamental laboratory-based science to clinical trials, and in all major disease areas. We have a long-standing funding partnership with the MRC, including:
- MRC-Arthritis Research UK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research
- MRC-Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated Research into Musculoskeletal Ageing
- Arthritis Research UK-MRC Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work
We also have a number of other co-funded strategic awards, as well as the latest partnership to fund a clinician scientist fellowship in the musculoskeletal research field, which hopes to further build on musculoskeletal research leadership in the UK.
National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs)
The NC3Rs are a government-funded independent scientific organisation with the goal of reducing the numbers of animals used in research and improving the quality of animal research. Together we have identified that animal models of arthritis have potential for further application of 3R relevant technologies or approaches.
To address this, we’ve come together with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to co-fund and co-sponsor a NC3Rs CRACK-IT challenge. CRACK IT Challenges are competitions that fund collaborations between industry, academics and SMEs to solve scientific and business challenges involving animals. The title of the CRACK-IT challenge is 'Osteo-Chip: an in vitro model to recapitulate the human osteoarthritis joint', it aims to develop an advanced in vitro model of the human osteoarthritic joint.
Design Council SPARK
We partnered with the Design Council for their SPARK product innovation fund - a fast track programme that provides mentoring and bespoke training to help UK-based product inventors to develop their products for market. The 2017 award was given to Geoff Rolandsen for his invention of the Workey key turner, which is a product that helps ease the use and management of keys, with particular benefit to those with reduced hand dexterity.
Visit our news for researchers page to keep up to date with the latest news on our research partnerships.
If you are interested in becoming a funding partner, please contact the research team on research@versusarthritis.org.