BRU researcher awarded NIHR Clinical Lectureship

Manchester researcher John Reynolds, been awarded a prestigious National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Lectureship, to support his Biomedical Research Unit Small Grant funded research.

NIHR Clinical Lectureships provide doctors with the opportunity to pursue research and help facilitate funding applications for further research for those working towards completion of speciality training.

John’s lectureship will support his research into the development of personalised assays to identify differences in immune system response to treatment in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (lupus).

Lupus is a systemic autoimmune disease that can affect any part of your body. It causes the immune system to attack the body’s cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. A number of different drugs are used to treat lupus and currently it is difficult to identify which patients should receive which treatment.

By using whole blood stimulation assay, John is able to examine the response of an individual patient’s immune system in the presence of different medications. This method will allow the measurement of, immune system responses to certain treatments, without the patient actually having to take the drug. It is hoped that this method will help determine drug efficacy and/or modify dosage, giving patients effective treatment in a timelier manner.

If successful, the findings of this research have the potential bring cost savings to the NHS by giving patients medication tailored to their immune system based on results from the blood test.

John plans to apply for an intermediate fellowship in 2017, to take forward his research and continue further training in clinical pharmacology.