| Description of work: JIA is an heterogeneous condition and its outcome is difficult to predict. The objectives of the study are to integrate heterogeneous data, including new sensitive imaging modalities for the evaluation of disease activity and damage, clinical features and immunological characterization (cytokine profile and lymphocyte subsets), and gene expression profiles of peripheral blood and synovial fluid mononuclear cells , to identify molecular signatures and immunological abnormalities that can predict structural damage progression (outcome predictive biomarkers). This project would represent the first horizontal integration of molecular high-throughput data with imaging, clinical and immunological data. The analysis on the different data sets available will be performed with statistical methods developed ad-hoc that will integrate molecular data, imaging, immunological and clinical data. It is expected that this multidisciplinary, integrated approach will be useful to establish more specific, pathogenesis-led treatment protocols for each subgroup. The differences in expression profiles may provide opportunities to stratify patients for intervention therapies based on molecular criteria.Personal Information Sheet ESR04 – Pieter van DijkhuizenPresentation ESR04 Pieter van Dijkhuizen |
