Successful R2P2 Meeting 2024
On Thursday the 23rd of May 2024, 18 patient research partners from the Birmingham Rheumatology Research Patient Partnership (R2P2), 7 members of the 1000 Elders as well as 10 students, researchers, staff from the University and 2 UHB staff joined us at the Edgbaston Park hotel or online for our annual meeting.
This meeting was particularly special as we celebrated 10 years of R2P2 this year (and many more years of patient involvement with the Rheumatology Research Group)!
The programme included research updates from both senior researchers and early career researchers which led to lively discussion and feedback from patient research partners.
A highlight of the day was a live demonstration of ultrasound scanning of the hand and wrist by Mark Maybury (research physiotherapist and sonographer) and Elspeth Insch (R2P2 patient research partner).
Mark was kept busy for the rest of the day as most of our patient research partners were also keen to have their own joints scanned!
After a brief introduction and welcome from Drs Marie Falahee and Gwenda Simons, we heard from Professor Adam Croft, the new head of the Rheumatology Research Group (RRG) about our latest research developments and strategy, and the innovative research programme that he leads on juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Adam also rightfully highlighted the huge contribution of patient and public partners in the achievements of the RRG.
Professor Ben Fisher, our new clinical lead for R2P2 then gave a fascinating update the latest research on Sjögren’s disease being conducted at the university.
We also heard from Professor Andrew Filer about our inflammatory arthritis research theme within the Biomedical Research Centre, and how it is supporting the delivery of innovative clinical trials of exciting new treatments for inflammatory diseases. Just before lunch Andrew showed a video demonstrating an ultrasound guided joint biopsy. This is a technique pioneered in Birmingham that underpins many of the huge advances that have been made in rheumatology research over recent years, by allowing researchers to study the cells involved in joint inflammation.
This was followed by a live demonstration of an ultrasound scan of the hand by Mark Maybury (research physiotherapist and sonographer) and Elspeth Insch (R2P2 patient research partner).
During the lunch break (and for the rest of the day!) Mark offered ‘drop-in’ ultrasound scans, as most of our patient research partners were keen to have their own hands or knees scanned!
In the afternoon it was time for some of our students and early career researchers to describe their current research and plans for the future. Chrissy Bolton presented her work towards the development of a single cell atlas for juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Ellie Northall, a first-year PhD student gave an overview of her work to develop laboratory grown human bone for use in musculoskeletal research. Jason Turner gave an update on research into checkpoint inhibitor induced arthritis, and described two grant applications in which he is involved. Finally, Saba Nayar discussed her ideas for a fellowship proposal aimed at understanding the neuron immune network in Sjögren’s disease. Each presentation generated much interest and lively discussion, including offers from patient research partners to get involved in the projects.
All in all, the event was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone involved, and it was wonderful to have so many patient research partners (including many new faces!) join us both in person and online!
This has been our largest meeting to date, and we are already looking forward to the next one!
A fantastic way to celebrate ten years of R2P2 and our patient partners’ important contributions to the Rheumatology Research Group.
