Digging deeper to reduce joint pain

Research has shown that white blood cells, called neutrophils, can increase the development of arthritis complications by creating a sense of pain when leaving blood vessels and invading the joints. Dr. Marie Bellio is investigating if platelets — blood cells that prevent bleeding — play a role in helping neutrophils leave blood vessels. Dr. Bellio will analyze the blood of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and will use sophisticated instruments to examine platelets and neutrophil interactions. She also plans to block the interactions between platelets and neutrophils to see if this affects arthritis development and pain. If the study shows that changing the interactions between neutrophils and platelets can reduce pain, it could lead to the development of new therapies for pain management and improve the quality of life of people living with RA.

Your support launches rising stars

Dr. Bellio’s research is being funded through the Launch a Star fund, which is supported by generous Leadership Circle donors. We created the Launch a Star fund to give promising early career researchers the opportunity to push even further to find the next big discovery. Check out our top 10 research advances for 2020 and see how your support is accelerating life-changing discoveries at arthritis.ca/research.