Information is powerful.
Omaha philanthropist Ruth Scott knew it in 2007 when she and Bill Scott donated money to create the Nebraska Arthritis Outcomes Research Center (NAORC), a joint venture between the UNMC Division of Rheumatology and the UNMC Department of Orthopaedics.
The investment has contributed to more than $1.5 million in new grant funding that has led to volumes of new knowledge in arthritis research — research that will lead to some amazing outcomes.
“The idea that we would find a way to prevent rheumatoid arthritis was just a dream when I came to UNMC 10 years ago, and now it’s becoming a real possibility,” said Kaleb Michaud, Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine, rheumatology.
These advances are due in no small part to the growing base of knowledge collected from patients participating in the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases and the Rheumatoid Arthritis Investigational Network, a group of rheumatologists and nurse-study coordinators in several states across the country, which Dr. Michaud leads.
The NAORC leads the nation in the development of a biobank that has thousands of patient samples, all stored at UNMC.
“The biobank continues to grow and the research we are able to conduct because of it also continues to provide us with new insights into arthritic diseases,” Dr. Michaud said.
Some of these insights include the increasing public health burden of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions in the state; cardiovascular risk and the use of biologic agents in rheumatoid arthritis; and increased incidence of herpes zoster among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
These are just three of the more than 100 research papers Dr. Michaud has published in the past 10 years, all utilizing data from NAORC.
The data also has led to some significant journal articles, he said, pointing to a 2015 study that described quality of life indices in patients who suffer with either rheumatoid arthritis versus osteoarthritis and had total knee replacements. The results showed that while significant improvements in pain, function and other health-related quality of life indices was found in both groups, maximum improvements were found in patients who only had osteoarthritis.
“That’s because patients with rheumatoid arthritis tend to have more joints affected that cause pain in other parts of their body,” Dr. Michaud said.
It’s the type of research that clinicians can use right away.