1. OLIVER BIRD COLLABORATIVE CENTRE NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY Oliver Bird Collaborative Centre in Newcastle In 2003 we were one of five Centres awarded a grant from the Oliver Bird fund of the Nuffield Foundation to establish a four year research training programme for five Oliver Bird PhD students. The Faculty of Medical Sciences in Newcastle agreed to award another full studentship and so we recruited six excellent candidates to the Newcastle programme in October 2004. We appointed six Oliver Bird students in 2004..... where are they now? Helen Baldwin arc Foundation Fellow working on the chemokine decoy receptor D6 in RA with Gerry Graham and Iain McInnes in Glasgow Jane Falconer Research Assistant working with John Robinson on antigen processing in Newcastle and investigating post doctoral positions in high profile fundamental immunology laboratories in the USA Matthew Jefferson Post Doctoral Fellow working with Loranne Agius in the Diabetes Research Group in Newcastle investigating insulin signalling George Kirmizidis Working in Brussels as an EU Project Manager in musculoskeletal research Jenny Lindop Post Doctoral Fellow working with Mary Goldring’s group in New York focussing on cartilage breakdown in osteoarthritis Amy Wilson arc Foundation Fellow studying the role of a vascular marker on the initiation and persistence of rheumatoid arthritis working with Chris Buckley in Birmingham Research Themes The Oliver Bird Collaborative Centre in Newcastle University consists of a number of closely interrelated laboratories with strong multidisciplinary basic science that underpins the translation of mechanistic studies into the clinical arena. Two main programmes of work investigate the prevention and treatment of joint inflammation and damage in the rheumatic diseases. The programmes are: 1: Mechanisms of joint remodelling and repair. This programme aims to discover the mechanisms of cartilage and bone breakdown and repair in order to develop new therapies that prevent destruction in arthritis. It poses a series of questions that relate to cellular, biochemical and genetic approaches that lead to specific hypotheses. 2: Autoimmunity – dissecting mechanisms and developing interventions. Laboratory models show that it is possible to ‘switch off’ autoimmune diseases by targeting specific molecules on T-cells or antigen-presenting cells using antibodies or receptor proteins. We study basic mechanisms and translate this research to humans to identify new therapeutic targets and to design novel immunomodulators to treat patients in phase I/II studies. The Newcastle University Musculoskeletal Research Group is located in the Medical School in the Institute of Cellular Medicine. Members collaborate with individuals from all Institutes and strong links are maintained with clinicians and patient cohorts. OLIVER BIRD STUDENTS IN NEWCASTLE 2008-2012 Christopher Macdonald, Catherine Syddall, Steven Woods OLIVER BIRD STUDENTS IN NEWCASTLE 2009-2013 Andrew Butcher, Nicola Maney, David Wilkinson NEWCASTLE STAFF ACADEMIC: Dr MA Birch, Dr F Birrell, Prof TE Cawston, Prof HE Foster, Dr RM Francis, Dr CMU Hilkens, Prof JD Isaacs, Dr D Lilic, Prof AW McCaskie, Dr F Ng, Prof JH Robinson, Prof AD Rowan, Prof J van Laar, Dr DA Young CLINICAL NHS: Dr P Cook, Dr M Friswell, Dr B Griffiths, Dr L Kay, Dr P Peterson, Dr P Platt, Dr D Walker