News and Events Archive

Speaker: Jordan Renner, MD

Topic: Radiology Grand Rounds

Time and Place: Friday, May 18th at 8:30 am, Radiology Reading Room, UNC Women’s Hospital

Speaker: Saira Sheikh, MD
Fellow
Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Time and Place: Friday, June 1st at 8:30 am, 124 Taylor Hall

Speaker: Caroline Hobbs, MD
Fellow
Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Time and Place: Friday, June 15th at 8:30 am, 124 Taylor Hall

Speaker: Amy Auerbach, MD
Fellow
Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Time and Place: Friday, June 22nd at 8:30 am, 124 Taylor Hall

Speaker: Jordan Renner, MD

Topic: Radiology Grand Rounds

Time and Place: Friday, June 29th at 8:30 am, Radiology Reading Room, UNC Women’s Hospital

The TARC Heels once again took home the Trophy! On May 5th the Thurston Arthritis Research Center “TARC Heels” participated in the Triangle Arthritis Walk in Durham. Hundreds of people came out to support the Arthritis Foundation by raising money, walking and enjoying the entertainment. This year 54 TARC Heels raised over $2100 to earn the trophy for Top Corporate Fundraising Team.

Grace Danuck, 2012 AF Walk Chair (l) and Candy Fuller, AF Community Director (c) presenting trophy to Yvonne Golightly (r), co-captain of the TARC Heels.

Teresa Tarrant, MD, of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center has been selected as the 2013 recipient of the American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation (ACR REF) Disease Targeted Research Grant. This grant is part of a multi-year research initiative, Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis, which will fund over $30 million to accelerate high-risk, high-reward research in inflammatory arthritis. Advancing research in this important area will enhance the practicing rheumatologist’s ability to recognize various causes of the disease, predict onset of disease, individualize treatment, prevent joint damage, and improve joint function. Funded research is expected to address basic, translational and clinical aspects of inflammatory arthritis and lead to new insights into the etiology, pathogenesis and treatment of these diseases.

Dr. Tarrant’s project, "Validating GPSM3 as a Key Regulator of Monocyte-driven Inflammatory Arthritis", will be funded for two years with this $400,000 grant. This project will explore how a newly discovered protein, GPSM3, may serve as a potential target to treat patients with inflammatory arthritis through its regulation on monocyte function. This research may identify new pathways that can more specifically inhibit unwanted inflammation in autoimmune disease.

Leigh F. Callahan, PhD of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been awarded the Mary Link Briggs Distinguished Professorship in Arthritis Research.

This professorship recognizes the generosity of Mary Link Briggs, a resident of Lexington, North Carolina in providing an estate gift to advance arthritis care and research.

Dr. Callahan has been committed to fostering arthritis research, educating students and learners of all types in arthritis research methodology, and working on policy change and development to improve the lives of those with arthritis and autoimmune diseases. This award recognizes her hard work in these arenas and the level of her scholarship.

Dr. Callahan is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Social Medicine in the School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor in Epidemiology. She has an international reputation for her work in the role of socioeconomic status, particularly educational attainment, in arthritis outcomes. She has built a long line of work in the use of patient reported outcomes long before this concept became popular. She is also deeply involved in work in health literacy and has played pivotal roles in the development of new materials to address these issues and to test their effectiveness in improving access to care. She nationally recognized as a leading expert on the effectiveness of multiple physical activity interventions for arthritis and has conducted studies of these self-management interventions throughout the state of North Carolina.

William J. Yount, MD, of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center was recently awarded 2012 Medical Alumni Citation Award from the University of Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association. The Medical Alumni Citation Award goes to a University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health alumnus who has achieved distinction in medicine. Achievement is recognized through excellence in the practice of medicine, in academic activities and in research accomplishment.

In 1970, Dr. Yount was recruited to the University of North Carolina School of Medicine to found the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology. He established the Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology Laboratories, and Rheumatology and Allergy Fellowship Programs. His research focused on the IgG subclasses and he studied the role of complement receptors in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus. He continues to consult and teach in Rheumatology and Allergy and Immunology at UNC and was awarded the Reeves Distinguished Professorship in 2006.

Kirsten A. Nyrop, PhD, Research Associate at the Thurston Arthritis Research Center, has been awarded an Institute on Aging Pilot Research Program grant for her project titled "Adaptation of an Evidence-Based Physical Activity Program for Female Breast Cancer Patients Age 65 and Beyond: A Proof-of-Concept Pilot Study." This study will adapt the Arthritis Foundation's Walk With Ease (WWE) program, in a self-directed format, for female breast cancer patients age 65 and older with self-reported arthritis or joint symptoms.

On the fourth Wednesday of the month, UNC Health Care sponsors a guest speaker as part of the Heels in Motion program at the Streets of Southpoint in Durham. This month, Michael Smith, MD, from the Thurston Arthritis Research Center spoke about osteoarthritis, its diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Smith, second year fellow in Rheumatology, explained what are the early symptoms of osteoarthritis (OA), who is likely to get OA, how doctors diagnose OA, how doctors treat OA and most importantly, what individuals can do to slow progression of the disease, and improve their ability continue to function in their day-o-day lives. Dr. Smith pointed out to the audience, that by the fact that they were part of a walking program, they were already getting exercise and strengthening their muscles, which is important in OA.

Heels in Motion is a mall-walking program sponsored by UNC Health Care and The Streets of Southpoint starting at 8:00am Monday through Saturday and 10:00am on Sunday. Membership is free. Registration forms can picked up at Southpoint's Welcome Center.

Panera Bread provides a complimentary breakfast that is served on the upper level in the food Court beginning at 8:00am for the monthly speakers.

Next month, April 25th, the breakfast speaker will be Dr. Edwin Kim, a physician from UNC Allergy and Immunology Clinic.

Michael Smith, MD