'Precision in thought, decision in life – Advances in precision medicine in rheumatology' Inaugural Lecture of Professor Myles Lewis
Date: Thu, 8 February 2024Time: 5.30pmLocation: Derek LT, JVSC Building, CHSQRegistration: Eventbrite
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The past 20 years have seen the advent of novel targeted medications such as biologics, which have transformed the outlook for patients with autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis. However, around 40% of patients show a poor clinical response to each treatment, and finding the right drug for an individual patient is purely trial-and-error. Repeated treatment failure is all too common, leading to suffering and disability. The aim of precision medicine is to identify a test which can predict whether patients will or will not respond to specific medications, so that patients can be offered the right drug first time. I will discuss my research on precision medicine in rheumatology, starting from my early work into the pathogenesis and genetics of SLE, through recent ground-breaking precision medicine biopsy-driven clinical trials in rheumatoid arthritis, and finally onto future precision medicine trials whose development is already in progress.
Speaker bio
Professor Myles Lewis studied preclinical medicine at Cambridge University, and clinical medicine at Oxford University. As a rheumatologist, he specialises in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and autoimmune connective tissue diseases. He was awarded a Clinical Research Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust in 2005 for his PhD at Imperial College London, focused on understanding the causes of accelerated heart disease in SLE. In 2011 for his ongoing lab research on the role of ubiquitination and genetics in SLE, he was awarded a Clinician Scientist Fellowship by Arthritis Research UK. For this work, in 2015 he was awarded the Lancet Prize for Clinician Scientists at the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Professor Lewis leads a bioinformatics/biostatistics group analysing multi-omic data across autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SLE, rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren’s syndrome). His research includes the analysis of several biopsy-driven precision-medicine randomised clinical trials in rheumatoid arthritis including R4RA and STRAP. His group is involved in the bioinformatic analysis of several stratified medicine projects including MRC MATURA and the EU Innovative Medicines Initiative programme 3TR. He is an Academic Fellow of the Digital Environment Research Institute at QMUL and he has been a Fellow of the Turing Institute.
5.30pm - Event starts, Introduction of Professor Myles Lewis5.35pm - 'Precision in thought, decision in life – Advances in precision medicine in rheumatology' by Professor Myles Lewis6.25pm - Reception