PAPRICA: Protein biomarker assays for psoriatic arthritis - Clinical evaluation and validation of multiplexed panels for diagnosis and prognosis
During the treatment and management of disease important clinical decisions are made, including deciding whether a patient has a particular illness and whether they may benefit from a specific treatment. These decisions are often made with the assistance of information from different measurements including patient details, scans, X-rays and a range of blood tests 'bloods'). The 'bloods' measure body chemicals from sugars and lipids to individual proteins - these are all called 'biomarkers'. Inflammatory arthritis is highly prevalent in Ireland, causes much joint damage and considerable suffering.
It is widely acknowledged, by physicians and patients alike, that new tests are needed urgently to make an accurate and early diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis and to ensure that each individual patient receives an effective and safe medication. Our recent research has focused on using the very latest lab-based technologies to find new biomarkers in inflammatory arthritis specifically psoriatic arthritis that will support the development of new tests. Using the state-of-the-art medical research facilities in UCD with the support of patients and by engaging teams of world-renowned doctors, biomedical researchers and statisticians we have identified a number of proteins that could serve as better biomarkers in psoriatic arthritis.
In this project we aim to refine the methods we use for measuring the proteins and to examine their ability to provide better blood tests for the diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis and prediction of a patient's likely response to treatment. This project will enable us to bridge the gap between discovery and practical use of biomarkers in support of our driving ambition to produce better tests for doctors to use in their assessment and treatment of patients with the aim of improving long-term patient health and welfare.
- Award Date
- 23 October 2015
- Award Value
- €220,657
- Principal Investigator
- Professor Oliver FitzGerald
- Host Institution
- University College Dublin
- Scheme
- Health Research Awards