Dr John Biglands awarded an NIHR Clinical Lectureship

Dr John Biglands has been awarded an NIHR Clinical Lectureship to work on Quantitative MRI in rheumatoid arthritis from hand to heart. Quantitative dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (qDCE-MRI) is a non-invasive technique for measuring properties of tissue microstructure. This project is concerned with applying this technique to two ongoing clinical trials which compare two treatment strategies (standard therapy versus early biologic therapy). The VEDERA trial will assess differences in response to these two treatment arms in the hand in newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis patients. The CADERA trial will make a similar assessment in the heart tissue. The incorporation of qDCE-MRI into these trials allows a comparison of tissue microstructure properties, where the earliest stages of the disease, and recovery, process take place. Such measurements could provide new information about the progression of RA in both the hand and the heart, and the most effective way to treat it.