1. GRAPPA research committee Philip Helliwell

2. History Steering committee in March 2005 received an application for funds to support a research project No mechanism to address this despite one of main aims of GRAPPA Research committee established to receive and assess applications for funding Identified 2 dermatologists and 2 rheumatologists Call for proposals with short (3 weeks) closing date 2005 budget identified as 50K dollars

3. Research committee Chair –Philip Helliwell Rheumatologists –Peter Nash –Eric Ruderman Dermatologists –Richard Langley –Alan Menter

4. Proposals 11 proposals received Total amount of funding requested 266K Proposals assessed in terms of –relevance to GRAPPA (filter question) –significance and innovation (0-7) –scientific quality (0-7) –ability and track record of applicants/site to conduct research project (0-7)

5. Scores

6. Scores including PSH evaluation

7. Application # 1 Lubrano and colleagues, Italy: Validity of the Modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (M-SASSS) and of the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Radiology Index (BASRI) for the radiological assessment of axial involvement in Psoriatic Arthritis. 10,000 dollars

8. Application # 2 Stamm and colleagues, Vienna: Measures Associated with Patient Reported Outcomes in Psoriatic Arthritis. Two part study: Part A qualitative, Part B quantitative Some overlap with study of Will Taylor 49,512 dollars

9. Application # 3 (joint 3 rd ) Helliwell et al. (Leeds): Validation of assessment tools for dactylitis and enthesitis in Psoriatic arthritis with MRI correlation. 26,600 dollars

10. Application # 4 (joint 3 rd ) Boehncke Frankfurt, Germany: Impact of psoriasis on coronary artery calcification 15,000 dollars

11. Application # 5 (close 4 th ) Lories/McGonagle Leuven/Leeds: Activated molecular signaling pathways in mesenchymal cells in psoriatic arthritis 12,500 dollars

12. Recommendations Fully fund first application Part fund the next 4, as all received closely similar scores This results in the (equitable) distribution of 10K dollars to each of the first five applications