Newsletter Autumn Winter 2023 Final (24) - Flipbook - Page 9
Winner of the prestigious Sir Jules Thorn Award.
Novel Diagnostic and Therapeutic Insights for Fibromyalgia.
Dr David Andersson of Kings College London was awarded the Sir Jules Thorn Award for
Biomedical Research.
The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust has granted £1,699,572 to fund the project 'Novel
Diagnostic and Therapeutic Insights for Fibromyalgia.
The project will be conducted in close collaboration with co-investigators from The
University of Liverpool - Prof Andreas Goebel, Dr Uazman Alam and Dr Rosalind Jenkins and Dr Diana Cash from IoPPN.
Dr David Andersson was awarded the prestigious award to study Fibromyalgia
Syndrome (FMS), one of the most common and challenging chronic pain conditions.
FMS affects more than 2% of the population, predominantly women, and is
characterised by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep disorders and emotional distress.
Despite fibromyalgia being associated with poor quality of life, the cause of it has
remained unexplained. There are currently no simple diagnostic tests or pain-relieving
analgesics available to most patients.
Dr Andersson's and Prof. Goebel9s previous joint research found that fibromyalgia could
be a disease of the immune system, rather than the currently held view that it originates
in the brain. The grant awarded will support this work to expand these findings and to
translate the research into an improved quality of life for patients. These insights will
fundamentally change future research and clinical management of FMS.
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