Trinity College School of Medicine Hosts Eurolife Distinguished Faculty Lecture

Posted on: 16 February 2009

The Trinity College School of Medicine in association with Eurolife Network hosted the second lecture in the ‘Eurolife Distinguished Faculty Lecture series’ on Thursday 12^th February. The lecture on the Origins and Outcomes of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Molecular Mechanisms of a Complex Disease was delivered byProfessor Lars Klareskog, Professor and Chairman of Rheumatology at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm .

Trinity College is chairing the Eurolife Network, an esteemed network of European universities in life sciences dedicated to promoting excellence in teaching and research. The Eurolife Network comprises prestigious universities in seven EU member states all of which are at the forefront of research in the health sciences. The ‘Eurolife Distinguished Faculty Lecture series’ promotes research contacts between experts, principal investigators and researchers within member Eurolife and partner institutions, with several  seminars a year at each university where the visiting expert interacts with students and faculty on 1-2 day visit. The subject of the seminars covers Eurolife key research areas, among them, inflammatory diseases, neuroscience, imaging, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, genetics of complex diseases and international health.

“We are privileged to host our distinguished Eurolife colleague Professor Lars Klareskog to deliver the second lecture in this series. Lars has contributed enormously to our understanding of this debilitating disease and crucially these discoveries are proving to have ramifications across a whole spectrum of related conditions that take such a toll on human health”, explained Professor Dermot Kelleher, Head of the TCD School of Medicine and Chairman of Eurolife. “Professor Klareskog’s presence demonstrates the tremendous depth and quality of research taking place in the Eurolife network and our commitment to promote excellence in all partners. This lecture was extremely beneficial in promoting rheumatology research in TCD and in our partners in Ireland “.

Professor Klareskog’s lecture entitled, Origins and Outcomes of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Molecular Mechanisms of a Complex Disease, gave an overview of what is currently known about the debilitating condition Rheumatoid Arthritis. Remarkable advances into the mechanisms of Rheumatoid Arthritis and inflammatory diseases in general have been made in the recent past and it is particularly interesting that common mechanisms may contribute to many of these diseases, and therefore the understanding of one mechanism can have broad application across the field.

Professor Klareskog is Professor and Chairman of the Rheumatology Clinic and Rheumatology Research Unit, at the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska Hospital , Stockholm . He is a member of the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute since 1995 and a past member of the Nobel Committee and has acted as the Chairman of the Scientific Board of the Swedish Rheumatism Association since 1997.  He has received international acclaim for his research in rheumatology including the The Dutch Rheumatology Society International Prize for Rheumatology research, the Hasinger prize of the German Rheumatism Center , and the Wyeth Rheumatology Prize.