UC Davis researcher receives grant for groundbreaking arthritis research6960119

Iannis Adamopoulos, a UC Davis researcher who specializes in skeletal and immune-system diseases, has become selected just as one Arthritis National Research Foundation (ANRF) Scholar and Sontag Foundation Fellow. Adamopoulos will get a grant of $75,000 to further his promising research on rheumatoid arthritis. Among 13 ANRF scholars, he's the one awardee to be identified by the Sontag Foundation. ANRF is one kind of a small selection of tax deductible charities that specialize in Arthritis Research.

"We are delighted to name Dr. Adamopoulos since the Sontag Foundation Fellow for 2011," said philanthropist and Sontag Foundation President Rick Sontag. "His work may supply the next breakthrough to finally end the debilitating disease that plagued my mother for 37 many ended her lifetime." Adamopoulos, an assistant professor of internal medicine, learned that an immune cytokine known as interleukin 23 (IL-23) is often a key regulator of joint inflammation and bone destruction. His finding that abnormal expression of IL-23 causes severe arthritis and bone decrease of mice was recently confirmed in human cells. The next phase in his studies to determine the potential of IL-23 inhibitors as arthritis treatments. "Dr. Adamopoulos is shifting the target of arthritis research and bone health investigations toward immune-system cells not previously thought to be significant," said Timothy Albertson, acting chair from the Department of Internal Medicine at UC Davis. "This change is likely to possess a profound relation to expanding therapeutic choices for those whose arthritis is not managed with current treatments. It is admirable that the ANRF and Sontag Foundation possess the insight to acknowledge his innovative work." Before joining UC Davis this season, Adamopoulos conducted drug discovery research at Schering-Plough Biopharma in Palo Alto, Calif. He holds a B.Sc. honors degree through the University of Surrey, an M.Phil. from University College London plus a D.Phil. in the University of Oxford, Wolfson College, where he received a scholarship for research on inflammatory arthritis. Located in Long Beach, Calif., the ANRF provides research grants to outstanding, early-career scientists who are becoming leading researchers in rheumatic disease, autoimmunity and inflammation with all the objective of finding new control of debilitating, chronic diseases. The ANRF's highly competitive, NIH-level review process -- conducted by its Scientific Advisory Board -- ensures that only top-tier applicants and projects are funded. Each and every year, the Sontag Foundation fully funds the grant of an ANRF-selected researcher who is studying arthritis rheumatoid. For more information on how you can make online donations visit curearthritis.org. The [http://www.mkowapi.co.ke/pg/photos/album/129236 is amongst the nation's leading medical schools, renowned for its research and primary-care programs. The teachers offers fully accredited master's degree programs in public areas health and in informatics, and its combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. In addition to being a recognized leader in scientific research, the school is dedicated to serving under served communities and advancing rural health.