UC Davis researcher receives grant for groundbreaking arthritis research4163136

Iannis Adamopoulos, a UC Davis researcher which specializes in skeletal and immune-system diseases, has become selected as a possible 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 symptoms. One of 13 ANRF scholars, he or she is the one awardee to become identified by the Sontag Foundation. ANRF is one kind of a small selection of tax deductible charities focusing on Arthritis Research.

"We are happy to name Dr. Adamopoulos as The Sontag Foundation Fellow for 2011," said philanthropist and Sontag Foundation President Rick Sontag. "His work may provide you with the next breakthrough to finally end the debilitating ailment that plagued my mother for 37 years and ended her life." Adamopoulos, a helper professor of internal medicine, learned that an immune cytokine known as interleukin 23 (IL-23) is a key regulator of joint inflammation and bone destruction. His discovering that abnormal expression of IL-23 causes severe arthritis and bone decrease in mice was recently confirmed in human cells. Step 2 as part of his scientific studies are to ascertain the potential of IL-23 inhibitors as arthritis treatments. "Dr. Adamopoulos is shifting the main objective of arthritis research and bone health investigations toward immune-system cells not previously acknowledged as significant," said Timothy Albertson, acting chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at UC Davis. "This change is likely to possess a profound relation to expanding therapeutic options for those whose arthritis cannot be managed with current treatments. It can be admirable that this ANRF and Sontag Foundation have the insight to realize his innovative work." Prior to 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 from the University of Surrey, an M.Phil. from University College London as well as a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, Wolfson College, where he received a scholarship for research on inflammatory arthritis. Situated in Long Beach, Calif., the ANRF provides research grants to outstanding, early-career scientists who will be becoming leading researchers in rheumatic disease, autoimmunity and inflammation with all the objective of finding new treatments for debilitating, chronic diseases. The ANRF's highly competitive, NIH-level review process -- conducted by its Scientific Advisory Board -- means that only top-tier applicants and projects are funded. Each year, the Sontag Foundation fully funds the grant of your ANRF-selected researcher who's studying arthritis rheumatoid. To learn more about ways to make online donations visit curearthritis.org. The [http://myarticledirectory.co.uk/index.php?page=article&article_id=517116 is amongst the nation's leading medical schools, famous for its research and primary-care programs. The institution offers fully accredited master's degree programs in public health insurance in informatics, and it is combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training generation x of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. In addition to as a recognized leader in medical research, the school is committed to serving under served communities and advancing rural health.