Rheumatology Research
The Division of Rheumatology at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is devoted to discovering new solutions for patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and related rheumatic disorders. The clinical research program's cornerstones are investigations on cartilage and chondrocytes biology, autoimmunity and T-C biology, as well as animal models of arthritis and inflammation. In collaboration with the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, the division is investigating the relationship between periodontal disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
Offering Access to Advanced Rheumatology Clinical Trials
Patients have access to advanced clinical trials for the study and treatment of arthritic disorders at the Rheumatology Clinical Research Unit (RCRU).
The RCRU specializes in clinical trials treatment options for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, undifferentiated connective tissue disease, and pain. The RCRU directs a number of local, national and international studies that are both industry sponsored and investigator-initiated.
To learn more about the available treatment studies, please e-mail any questions to rcru@UHhospitals.org.
Research Areas
Research in the Division of Rheumatology during the next five years will focus on those molecular mechanisms which we believe are highly relevant to immune-mediated inflammation in autoimmune disorders including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjögren's disease. The focus of our basic research plan is designed to integrate the mutual research interests of the research faculty in the Division of Rheumatology, which includes Donald Anthony, MD, PhD, Ali Askari, MD, Charles Malemud, PhD, Roland Moskowitz, MD, and M. Edward Medof, MD, PhD, as well as those research programs of other established investigators at Case Western Reserve University aligned with the Division of Rheumatology, including Eric Pearlman, PhD, Jean F. Welter, MD, PhD, Michael Lederman, MD, and Mark Chance, PhD. This approach will enable these proposed studies to proceed since these studies build on our previously published results supported by externally-funded research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center and by several contracts from the biopharmaceutical industry. This funding has permitted the investigators in the Division of Rheumatology to successfully integrate molecular and cellular approaches which have better defined immune-mediated inflammatory responses in mouse models of inflammation and autoimmunity, in blood cells obtained from patients with these autoimmune disorders and in normal, osteoarthritic and immortalized human chondrocytes.