Beware the 'old' drugs magically resurfacing as part of the solution

Professor Eric Morand

We all want a solution, and fast. But touting 'old' drugs as a potential COVID-19 treatment comes at a cost. An opinion piece by Professor Eric Morand published in The Age highlights the dangers of the recent shortages of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, and what it means for patients with autoimmune disease such as lupus. Read full story here.

Dr Fabien Vincent receives research fellowship to investigate lupus in Indigenous Australians

SCS researcher, Dr Fabien Vincent, has received a $50,000 Arthritis Australia Fellowship for his vital research into lupus.

A research fellow in the Rheumatology Research Group, Dr Vincent’s project investigates identifying molecular signatures in Indigenous Australians with systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus).

Monash researchers identify attainable treatment target for lupus patients

Dr Vera Golder 

For the first time, Monash researchers have identified an attainable treatment target for systemic lupus erythematosus – also known as SLE or lupus – called Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS), which has shown to be associated with a significant reduction in irreversible end organ damage – a factor that contributes to premature death in patients.

From little things, big things grow

The Kim Jolly Lupus Research Fund was established in memory of Ms Kim Jolly, a young woman who tragically lost her life to Lupus after a long struggle. Initiated by her family, and now carried on in partnership with Lupus Victoria, the leading Lupus patient support organisation, the Kim Jolly Lupus Research Fund has supported lupus research at Monash University for the past ten years, having donated almost $200,000.

A step closer to understanding and treating lupus

Dr Joshua Ooi

Monash University researcher Dr Joshua Ooi, alongside co-investigators Professor Eric Morand and Professor Jamie Rossjohn, will be one step closer to developing a potential therapy for lupus, thanks to a highly competitive $400,000 Novel Research Grant awarded by the Lupus Research Alliance.

Monash medical students’ research paves the way for improved treatments for lupus

Rachel Mende

Latest research at Monash University reveals a particular protein found in the blood of lupus patients may be a potential biomarker of kidney disease.

Co-authored by final year Monash medical students Rachel Mende and Emily Lin, both supervised by Dr Tali Lang, the study was published last week in Frontiers in Immunology.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or lupus, is an incurable systemic autoimmune illness, which predominantly affects women of child-bearing age.

“This study is the largest to date which examines clinical associations between SLE disease parameters and two particular blood proteins: IL-18 and IL-1β,” said first author Rachel, who undertook the research as a BMedSc(Hons) student at the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS).

Emily Lin

“We measured these two proteins in the blood of lupus patients and found that increased serum IL-18 was associated with the presence of kidney disease and irreversible organ damage while there was no association between serum IL-1β and SLE clinical outcomes.” 

Postdoctoral Research Fellow from the Rheumatology Research Group, Dr Fabien Vincent said the data suggests that serum IL-18 and IL-1β have different clinical implications in lupus.

“Future research investigating whether lupus patients with kidney disease may benefit from a drug targeting IL-18 would be of value,” said Dr Vincent, co-lead author on the paper. 

The research team thanks all the patients involved in the study, and acknowledges the Australian Lupus Registry and Biobank for providing the clinical data sets and patient samples. 

Monash recognised as leader in lupus research

Dr Champa Nataraja, Dr Fabien Vincent,
Dr Kathryn Connelly

Monash confirmed its position as a national leader in research at the recent Australian Rheumatology Association (ARA) Annual Scientific Meeting. 

Monash University and Monash Health researchers scooped the basic science free paper, poster, and trainee awards at the Meeting, representing 100 per cent of the annual basic science awards given by the ARA nationally.

Monash Health Rheumatology Fellow and Monash University PhD student Dr Champa Nataraja received the basic science poster award for 2018, and was also nominated for the new investigator award.

Dr Nataraja is investigating a protein called glucocorticoid induced leucine zipper (GILZ) as a potential treatment option for lupus.

“Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) or lupus is a multi-system autoimmune disease that predominantly affects younger women,” Dr Nataraja said. 

“The treatment of lupus has scarcely changed over the last six decades—glucocorticoids or steroids remain the most prescribed treatment in lupus.”

“As a ‘double edged sword’, the use of these drugs is accompanied by litany of adverse effects that contribute to morbidity and mortality in these patients,” Dr Nataraja said.

Dr Nataraja said there is an urgent need for a drug that mimics the anti-inflammatory effects of steroids but without the negative metabolic effects.

“GILZ may represent such an alternative, potentially leading to improved outcomes for lupus patients,” she said. 

Monash Health colleague, rheumatology registrar Dr Kathryn Connelly, received the prestigious Roche Travelling Scholarship for best Basic Science Presentation by a trainee at the conference.

The former BMedSc(Hons) student at the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) is investigating how levels of different biological markers vary between patients with lupus, and how these variations relate to changes in their disease activity over time.

“This research will be a platform for better understanding biological pathways in patients with lupus, with the ultimate future goal being the ability to personalise disease monitoring and treatment,” Dr Connelly said.       

Meanwhile, Dr Fabien Vincent, a research fellow in the Rheumatology Research Group, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, was awarded the Best Basic Science Free Paper for 2018.

“My research focuses on a protein called BAFF, which we showed predicts the presence of kidney disease in some patients suffering from lupus,” Dr Vincent said.

“Unfortunately, no tool is currently available that enables physicians to select patients who could benefit from anti-BAFF therapy”.

  

Dr Vincent said future research would evaluate whether patients with lupus nephritis might benefit from a drug targeting BAFF.

In further recognition, the Australian Scleroderma Interest Group (ASIG)—whose Monash Health members include Dr Joanne Sahhar, Ms. Kathleen Elford, Dr Gene-Siew Ngian, and Dr Lucy Croyle— was awarded the ARA President’s Collaborative Research Prize.

“This highly prestigious prize, awarded triennially, is in recognition of national and international collaborative research efforts spanning not only our own discipline but also those of several other disciplines in medicine,” said Professor Eric Morand, Head of the Monash University Rheumatology Research Group.

“It’s also noteworthy that in the Basic Science award category, three of the six shortlisted papers were from Monash, including that of SCS PhD candidate Dr Melissa Northcott.”

“All these lean to some extent on the Monash Lupus research framework lead by Dr Alberta Hoi and supported by Dr Rangi Kandane and Monash Health nurse Ms Sue Morton,” Professor Morand said.

Professor Morand extends his sincere congratulations to all on this national level achievement.

“This is a very proud achievement for the team, and a proud day for me,” he said. 

3MT video: Charlotte Nejad talks about her research into lupus

Charlotte Nejad a PhD candidate in the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS), talks about her research into lupus.  She discusses that yearly, more than 20,000 people are affected by lupus in Australia.  Charlotte says that symptoms vary from person to person and that correct diagnosis and treatment are crucial.

Monash lupus research receives generous donation

Mrs Beryl Swaminathan

A generous donation from family and friends of a former Monash Health lupus patient will fund vital research at Monash University.

A former patient of Professor Eric Morand and Dr Alberta Hoi, Beryl Swaminathan sadly passed away on May 15 this year.  Beryl had been a lupus patient at Monash Medical Centre for more than 25 years.  She is survived by her husband, Balu, and children Ian and Kim.

Last week Beryl's family and friends made a generous donation of $2437, which will directly fund research aiming to bring treat-to-target options for lupus a step closer.

Systematic lupus erythematosus, or lupus, is a chronic multi-organ autoimmune disease with a broad spectrum of symptoms. Currently there are no effective targeted treatments for lupus, and most patients are treated with long-term steroids and therapies to suppress the immune system.  While these treatments can manage disease symptoms, they don’t prevent morbidity and loss of life expectancy and have significant and often devastating side-effects.

“Treat-to-Target” (T2T) is a concept used to design the best treatment options for a number of debilitating diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, vascular medicine and diabetes.  An international initiative that has resulted in significant improvements in patient outcomes in many areas of medicine, T2T defines specific treatment targets to measure disease severity.

The T2T philosophy requires information about disease activity. But how can you hit your target if the target hasn’t been defined?   Until now, lupus has had no defined treatment outcome states, clear treatment guidelines or T2T approaches.

Determination of a measure of low disease activity for lupus is a major research priority of the Rheumatology Research Group, Monash University.

Monash lupus research receives donation from Lupus Victoria

A generous donation from Lupus Victoria will fund a Monash University PhD scholarship, enabling vital research into lupus.

Lupus Victoria, a charity supporting research into systemic lupus erythematosus, or lupus, has donated $26,000 to the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS), directly supporting the Kim Jolly Lupus Research Fund Scholarship.

PhD student and Monash Health Rheumatology Fellow Dr Champa Nataraja is the first recipient of the scholarship—her research aiming to improve outcomes for patients with lupus.

“Lupus is a chronic, multi-system autoimmune disease affecting at least 5 million people worldwide, with the majority being women of childbearing age,” Dr Nataraja said.

“Over 70 per cent of patients with lupus are typically treated with glucocorticoids (GC) due to their broad anti-inflammatory effect, however, despite their effectiveness, the use of these drugs is accompanied by a litany of serious adverse effects that contribute to increased morbidity and mortality.”

Dr Nataraja said there is a critical need for alternative therapies to GC that have similar anti-inflammatory effects but without the negative metabolic side-effects.

Under the supervision of Dr Sarah Jones and Professor Eric Morand from the Lupus and Arthritis Research Group, Dr Nataraja is investigating glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper (GILZ), a protein induced by GC that may lead to an alternative therapy.

“My PhD will validate GILZ as a therapeutic target in lupus, potentially leading to improved therapies and outcomes for patients,” Dr Nataraja said.

“I feel honoured and privileged to be the first recipient of The Kim Jolly Lupus Research Fund Scholarship and am grateful this scholarship facilitates me to continue with this vital research project.”

Head of the Lupus and Arthritis Research Group Professor Morand said he is honoured to have the continuing relationship with patients and families affected by lupus, who make up Lupus Victoria, and who share our belief that research is the way we will solve this disease.

“Lupus Victoria were supporters of our work from the start and our growth now to national and international prominence in this field would not have happened without their support at the beginning,” Professor Morand said. 

Australian-first lupus registry and biobank to provide real world evidence of therapies

Dr Alberta Hoi and Professor Eric Morand

The Australian Lupus Registry and Biobank (ALRB) is essential to improving our understanding of systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and could be a world leader, according to experts including Monash University’s Professor Eric Morand.

Published today in the Medical Journal of Australia, the authors said the ALRB will be a valuable resource for clinicians, scientists, industry and government to provide real world evidence of clinical effectiveness of existing or new therapies and management strategies in patients with lupus.

“Lupus is a complex autoimmune disease with diverse symptoms, which place an unacceptable level of burden on affected patients,” said Professor Morand, Head of Rheumatology at Monash Health and Head, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University.

“Australian data on lupus are scarce, with figures suggesting a prevalence of lupus that ranges from 19 per 100,000 in people of European ancestry to 92 per 100,000 in Indigenous Australians, similar to other chronic diseases such as hepatitis C.”

Professor Morand said that while survival rates have improved in the last fifty years, it is still a sobering thought that lupus, which typically presents in women in their twenties or thirties, confers a 1 in 10 chance of dying before the age of forty.

Despite those numbers, it wasn’t until the ALRB was established in 2012 that fundamental data regarding age, geographic and ethnic distribution; currently used treatments; and unmet needs of patients in Australia was consistently collected.

Ten Australian institutions are now recruiting patients with lupus to the ALRB across Victorian, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, with the common goal of ‘improving treatment and outcomes for people with lupus’.

Economically, the registry also serves a vital purpose.

“In the complex Australian health care system, it is difficult to examine the different components of health care use, so the true economic costs for a disease such as lupus are often grossly underestimated,” said co-author Dr Alberta Hoi, Head of the Monash Lupus Clinic and chief investigator, Lupus and Arthritis Research Group at Monash University.

The ALRB will allow the tracking of health care uses related to the care of lupus in Australia and will provide data for benchmarking.

”With the rising costs of health care and a limited health budget, it is paramount that data are available to study the cost effectiveness of various management strategies,” said Dr Hoi.

“Health care use, based on annual patient self-report of hospitalisations, investigations and other health complications, may form the basis to derive cost.”

Professor Morand said the ALRB information may help measure the health consequences of different health care interventions.

Does expert opinion match the operational definition of the lupus low disease activity state (LLDAS)? A case based construct validity study

Vera Golder et al. published in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.

Read article here.

Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration presented in Washington, D.C.

L-R: Yeong Song (South Korea); CC Mok (Hong Kong);
Yoshiya Tanaka (Japan); Sang-Cheol Bae (South Korea);
Eric Morand   in Washington, D.C. last month

Head of School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) Professor Eric Morand was an invited speaker at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Meeting last month in Washington, D.C.

Attended by over 10,000 delegates, Professor Morand presented on the Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration (APLC) at the Meeting.

The APLC was formed in 2012, and is a collaboration of expert lupus investigators from 16 research centres across Australia, China, UAE, Dubai, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

“The APLC is performing the largest prospective cohort study of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) ever undertaken,” said Professor Morand, who is also Head of Rheumatology at Monash Health.

“SLE is more common and more severe in Asia but prior to the APLC no one had worked to link the many local registries and clinics.”

“Undertaking SLE research in Asia can expedite our research because of patient numbers and the severity of cases,” said Professor Morand.

Professor Morand said the main study being explored by the APLC is based on validating a definition of a Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS) which had been lacking in this field. 

Professor Morand and his colleagues have developed an instrument for measuring treatment response.

“The APLC had multiple posters on their work at the ACR Annual Meeting, and found that several other large cohorts have tested and validated the measure,” said Professor Morand.

“The measure was tested in a major pharmaceutical company database from a clinical trial and found to have excellent discrimination of active treatment against placebos, something the field of SLE has awaited for many years.”

As a result of Professor Morand’s presentation last month in Washington DC, further new sites and countries have requested to join the APLC.

CID Weekly Seminar: "Lupus Research at Monash SCS", Tuesday 29 November

12:00 - 1:00pm, Tues 29 November, Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Presented by Dr Alberta Hoi

Head of Lupus Clinic, Monash Medical Centre

Senior Research Fellow, Department of Medicine, Monash University

The Monash Lupus Clinic recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. At its inception in late 2006, it was modelled as the first multi-disciplinary lupus clinic in Australia, and to combine clinical activity with research. I will present our journey in the diversification of research activities, from biomarker translational research to the establishment of a national registry and biobank (the Australian Lupus Registry and Biobank), as well as other clinical research activities collaborating with local and international partners.

Dr Alberta Hoi is a rheumatologist and translational researcher focussing on systemic lupus erythematosus and other systemic rheumatic diseases. She currently holds positions as the Head of Lupus Clinic at Monash Medical Centre and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Medicine, where she oversees patient care, education, and clinical research initiatives in SLE.
Over the years she has had significant experience in clinical and translational research, including completing a NHMRC PhD scholarship in immunology examining the pathogenetic role of the proinflammatory cytokine Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) in systemic lupus erythematosus. She plays an active role in a number of investigator-initiated SLE studies and clinical trials. 
At SCS she is the clinical lead of the Lupus & Arthritis Group, and has rolled out the national disease registry (the Australian Lupus Registry & Biobank) which is now a valuable research resource that fosters collaboration between translational scientists and clinicians. She oversees a number of research projects of her students, including the validation of a low lupus disease activity state and effects of healthcare quality on disease outcomes. Dr Alberta Hoi is the chair for the Australian Rheumatology Association SLE Interest Group (SLESIG), and co-chair for the Australian Lupus Registry & Biobank steering committee, and a steering member of the Asia-Pacific Lupus Collaboration.

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.


Further information, including the link to add the seminar series to your google calendar, is available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

Promising new treatment for lupus on the horizon

Professor Eric Morand

A drug originally used to boost the immune system is showing promise as a potential new treatment for lupus, research published today (August 9) shows. Lupus is an autoimmune disease, where the immune system attacks the body’s own organs and tissues, causing inflammation and, potentially, organ failure.

An international team of scientists from Australia and China have shown for the first time, in a study published today in Nature Medicine, that a natural immune system protein called IL-2 can help restore balance to the overactive immune system of lupus patients. The drug could soon be rolled out for clinical trials in lupus treatment.

Professor Zhanguo Li from Peking University People’s Hospital in China, and Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute researcher, Dr Di Yu, co-led the study.

Dr Yu said he hoped the drug could be approved as a lupus treatment within a handful of years.

“This drug, which can help the immune system fight against cancer, was approved in the 1990s but is not commonly used now– we’re just using this drug for a different purpose, based on our new knowledge of the immune system,” Dr Yu said.  

“The amount we tested for treating lupus is much less than the dose used in treating cancers. We observed the treatment was safe and showed promising results, so there’s reason to believe formal trials could begin almost immediately,” he said.

Dr Yu said lupus could be a serious disease, and that it hadn’t been able to be treated in a very satisfactory way in the past.

“With the treatments available at the moment, many people still have flare-ups on a regular basis, or serious side effects,” Dr Yu said.

IL-2 is a protein that regulates the activity of white blood cells, which are an important part of the immune system that protect the body against infections. In cancer therapy, patients are given large doses of IL-2 to stimulate their immune system but, paradoxically, the low dose IL-2 given to lupus sufferers in this study actually supressed the overactive part of their immune system that attacks their body. The research also showed the “self-checking” part of the immune system that prevents an overactive immune response, called regulatory T cells, increased after IL-2 treatment.

Dr Yu said: “This drug shows real promise for treating a number of diseases when given in low doses. This is the first time IL-2 has been studied as a treatment for a group of patients with lupus, and the results are very encouraging.”  

Professor Eric Morand, fellow Monash University researcher on the study and founder of the Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration, said that in this study, IL-2 was given to people whose lupus wasn’t responding well to standard treatments.  

“The real promise of this treatment is that it calms the hyperactive immune system through multiple mechanisms, which is very important as this new therapy may be effective for many patients,” Professor Morand said.

”As the drug has been on the market for some time for other diseases, it can be rapidly put into formal trials for lupus treatment right away.”

Co-first authors Dr Xia Zhang from Peking University People’s Hospital in China, and Associate Professor Yunbo Wei, from Shandong Academy of Sciences, performed a large part of the research, both visiting Monash University to train with Dr Yu and carry out the research.

The researcher’s work was supported by several international funding bodies, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Priority Research Program of the Shandong Academy of Sciences. 

Monash researchers bringing hope to lupus patients

Dr Vera Golder

Researchers at Monash University are leading the world’s largest study to describe lupus patients and disease characteristics, bringing treat-to-target options for lupus a step closer.

Systematic lupus erythematosus, or lupus, is a chronic multi-organ autoimmune disease with a broad spectrum of symptoms. Currently there are no effective targeted treatments for lupus, and most patients are treated with long-term steroids and therapies to suppress the immune system.  While these treatments can manage disease symptoms, they don’t prevent morbidity and loss of life expectancy and have significant and often devastating side-effects.

“Treat-to-Target” (T2T) is a concept used to design the best treatment options for a number of debilitating diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, vascular medicine and diabetes.  An international initiative that has resulted in significant improvements in patient outcomes in many areas of medicine, T2T defines specific treatment targets to measure disease severity.

The T2T philosophy requires information about disease activity. But how can you hit your target if the target hasn’t been defined?   Until now, lupus has had no defined treatment outcome states, clear treatment guidelines or T2T approaches.

“Determination of a measure of low disease activity for lupus is a major research priority,” said Dr Vera Golder, rheumatologist at Monash Health and PhD student in the Lupus and Arthritis Research Group, Monash University.

“Some patients with lupus have periods of disease inactivity punctuated by disease flare while others have persistently active disease.”

Dr Golder said that current instruments used to measure disease activity are complex, contributing to mixed results in trialling possible new targeted therapies.

The Asia-Pacific Lupus Collaboration recently developed and retrospectively validated the Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS) definition—a state which if sustained, is associated with good long-term outcomes.

“Our study is the first to prospectively validate and refine this LLDAS definition in a large multi-centre cohort over several years,” said Dr Golder.

Commencing in May 2013, 1846 patients were recruited prospectively in 12 centres from nine countries.

“In this study cohort, 93% of patients were female, with a mean age of 29 years at diagnosis and mean disease duration of 8.5 years at the time of recruitment.”

“More than 50% of patients were of Chinese ethnicity, 7% of patients were Caucasian, with the remainder representing the other ethnic groups native to the region.”

The Monash study found that Asian patients are more likely to have renal disease, whereas Caucasian patients are more likely to exhibit musculoskeletal, neurological and skin problems.  Low disease activity was observed in less than half of lupus patients at a single point in time.

“We’ve also shown that disease duration and phenotype, as well as national social wealth were predictors of LLDAS attainment,” said Dr Golder.

“Previous retrospective studies have shown that patients who spent more than 50% of their disease duration in LLDAS accrued less damage compared to patients who did not.”

“We are hopeful our study has brought us a step closer identifying treatment options that will have better long-term outcomes for lupus patients.”

Dr Golder presented her research findings recently at the Australian Rheumatology Association Annual Scientific Meeting in Darwin last week and will soon present at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Scientific Meeting in London.

May 10 is World Lupus Day.

Congratulations Jim Harris - winner of the ASI Quarterly Newsletter Prize for 2015

Congratulations Jim for winning $200 for best contribution to the 2015 Australasian Society of Immunology Newsletter. 

See Jim’s article here on page 15 and oiginal article is here on page 26.   (Party at Jim's house.)

Low vitamin D levels linked to lupus

Dr Kristy Yap

Monash-led research has shown for the first time that low vitamin D levels are associated with higher disease activity in Australian systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.

Published earlier this month in Lupus Science & Medicine, lead researcher Dr Kristy Yap, MBBS from the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases in the School of Clinical Sciences reported her findings in the first study to examine SLE disease in the Southern Hemisphere.

SLE, also known as lupus, is a severe, incurable and debilitating multisystem autoimmune disease.  It is the most common autoimmune disease, affecting at least 5 million people worldwide, and is predominantly diagnosed in young women.

The longitudinal study examined the disease activity and vitamin D levels of lupus patients who attended the Monash Medical Centre Lupus Clinic between 2007 and 2013.

“We found a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in our cohort,” said lead author Dr Kristy Yap.

“Significantly, over a quarter of our patients recorded low vitamin D levels, keeping with reports from other parts of the world, including Asia and Europe.”

Demonstrating an inverse association between vitamin D levels and lupus disease activity, the research shows that increasing vitamin D levels correlates with lower disease activity in lupus patients.

“Future studies should include randomised trials which focus on the clinical effect of vitamin D supplementation in lupus,” said Head of the Monash Lupus Clinic and chief investigator in the Lupus and Arthritis Research Group, Dr Alberta Hoi.

Foundation grant awarded to further rheumatology research

Dr Jim Harris

Congratulations Dr Jim Harris who has received a competitive Rebecca L. Cooper Medical Research Foundation grant.

The Foundation Grant worth $22,000 will be used towards a new piece of equipment, a Direct Detect Spectrometer from Millipore.

The Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation directs funds towards high quality research and high quality researchers to support the direct costs of research, typically tangibles including laboratory equipment and consumables.

“We’re really pleased with the outcome as this is the first time we’ve applied for one of these grants,” said Chief Investigator Dr Harris.

Dr Sarah Jones and Professor Eric Morand are co-investigators on the grant proposal, "New Therapeutic Targets in Rheumatological Diseases".

“The new equipment will allow us to measure protein levels in biological samples, including clinical samples, serum, etc. much more quickly and efficiently than previously,” added Dr Harris.

The machine will be used in the laboratory’s study of rheumatological diseases, including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.