NIHR Newcastle BRC PhD Student
Ben is a current postgraduate research student working with Dr Louise Reynard, Dr Amy Anderson and Dr Arthur Pratt in the musculoskeletal disease and inflammation medicine BRC research theme. He previously studied a BSc in biomedical sciences and completed an MRes in Immunobiology at Newcastle University.His research focus involves identifying and understanding the dynamic epigenetic changes within patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), specifically between patients that remain in drug-free remission and those that flare after treatment withdrawal.
The aims of this project are to highlight mechanisms in which gene regulation impacts T cell function in RA patients causing patients to flare, potentially identifying biomarkers which could predict a patient’s likelihood to flare following treatment cessation and targetable pathways for flare prevention.
PhD Project
The epigenetics of Rheumatoid Arthritis flare and remission
Conferences
June 2024 - BSI INE symposium, poster presentation