A prestigious award of £2 million over five-years has been awarded to Professor Laura Coates, Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, as part of a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) research professorship. As the first ever rheumatologist to be awarded this research professorship, Coates plans to
develop a risk calculator for arthritis.
Only 73 people since 2011 have succeeded in obtaining this award, many of whom have since become senior research leaders. The award entails three support posts, research costs, and access to a leadership and development programme.
Professor Coates’ research focuses on psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, a chronic inflammatory variant of arthritis from which approximately 640,000 people in the UK suffer. Around one-third of those with the skin condition psoriasis go on to develop psoriatic arthritis. Professor Coates plans to develop a risk calculator that would estimate the risk that people with psoriasis have of developing arthritis.
Professor Coates said: “I will also design a new national study to test personalisation of treatment for those who do develop arthritis. I will work with people living with psoriatic arthritis and medical teams to design this study using digital supports like apps and we will be able to test different treatments and personalise these for different people.”
The NIHR website details the eligibility criteria, requiring applicants to “have an outstanding research record of clinical and applied health care research”, and to “have demonstrated effective translation of research for improved health and care.”
Other research topics that the recipients of this award plan to explore include independence for older people across community and hospital settings, improving care for children with life-limiting conditions, and a prediction tool to streamline diagnostic pathways for suspected endometrial cancer.
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR, underlined the honour of this research award, saying: “The NIHR Research Professorship is one of our most prestigious career awards. The award funds outstanding researchers to help address the major health and care issues of today and in the future, strengthening health, public health and care research leadership at the highest academic levels.”
