PRDF
The Paediatric Rheumatology Discretionary Fund is a charitable fund accumulated from donations. The chairperson of the fund is Professor Patricia Woo. Every penny raised goes towards funding research into juvenile idiopathic arthritis and juvenile dermatomyositis. We are committed to supporting health services, clinical research and laboratory research where other funding sources are temporarily unavailable. In the past short term funding has been provided to UCL Institute of Child Health's rheumatology unit clinical and laboratory research team members to cover salary costs for researchers whilst applying for a grants for future work. The Fund has also provided funds for laboratory equipment. The charity has supported the administrator for the Juvenile Dermatomyositis Research Centre to enable ongoing collection of data during gaps in centre funding and hopes to continue this support in the future. The fund also assisted our scientists, medical staff and allied health professionals to attend international scientific meetings and courses to develop their skills, establish contacts and further their research.
Juvenile Dermatomyositis
We are raising funds to support the work of the Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) Research Group which is coordinated from the UCL Institute of Child Health Rheumatology Unit.
Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Currently we are holding a fundraising drive to support our research into systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA).
Arthritis affects one child in every 1000. There are many different types of arthritis that affect children. In many cases arthritis can be treated very quickly and affectively, helping to reduce the long term damage. Other forms of arthritis can be harder to treat. Many children suffering from this illness are successfully treated with medicines available over the past two decades. However, 10% of these children suffer from an illness called systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and up to 50% of these children do not respond well to the established medicines that we use to treat childhood arthritis. It is important that we can treat children with arthritis as soon as possible. If the arthritis is not controlled quickly enough, permanent damage can be done to their joints. In addition to the arthritis, the children suffer malaise, fevers, rashes and other complications. Longer term effects include growth retardation, osteoporosis and an increased risk of other illnesses. Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis can be mild or severe. At the severe end of the spectrum it is potentially life threatening.
With funding from Arthritis Research UK, supported by essential extra funds from the Paediatric Rheumatology Discretionary Fund, one of the teams we support has identified genes that can make a child more susceptible to developing this illness. A medicine based on this research has proved to be very effective, and multicentre trials are being performed currently after this unit had performed pilot studies together with a few European centres. Other genes that may also cause the illness to develop are being investigated.
We are also supporting genetic and immunological research into why some children respond to the different treatments and why some do not. It is hoped that, if we can learn why children respond well to some treatments and not others, we can develop tests to see what treatments will be affective and give them the most appropriate treatment sooner.
How You Can Help
A monthly donation to the charity makes us stronger and allows us to plan better for the future. If you feel able to support us in this way, you can set up a monthly payment via the just giving page. Any donation will help us to support research into systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and improve the lives of children suffering from this illness, so we are very happy to receive one off donations as well.
The charity is registered with the just giving website and you can use this site to donate if you wish, just click on the logo on the right and you will be taken to the charity's page.
If you would like to join our mailing list to receive information on forthcoming fund-raising events held by our supporters, please email the charity secretary.
If you are interested in organizing a fund-raising event, you can create a fund-raising page on the JustGiving website, just click on the red JustGiving button below.
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Page last modified on 19 jul 11 15:09
