Steering drug discovery in arthritis: Single cell analysis of joint tissue biopsies in drug resistant rheumatoid arthritis

Dr. Mojca Frank-Bertoncelj, Dr. med., Center of Experimental Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital of Zurich

With our research, we want to find out the exact molecular and cellular composition of fresh joint (synovial) tissue biopsies from patients who respond poorly or do not respond to the current drugs available to treat rheumatoid arthritis. We will do this by looking at single cell gene expression and analysing their exact characteristics (phenotyping analysis). The aims are to stop rheumatoid arthritis at an early stage and improve the likely outcome for patients, who until now have not been helped by existing treatments.