Experts across the UK come together to share cutting edge findings in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

The CLUSTER Consortium, a UK wide partnership with aims of improving care of young people with JIA and its associated eye condition uveitis, recently celebrated over six years of research addressing the needs of children and young people with arthritis.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) causes arthritis in children and young people where there is swelling in one or more of the joints and is diagnosed before their 16th birthday, it can also lead to inflammation of the eye, called uveitis. As a type of autoimmune disease, JIA is a common rheumatological condition in children, affecting 1 in 1000 in the UK (Versus Arthritis). In JIA, both arthritis and its key associated eye inflammation (JIA-uveitis) can have a great impact on children and their families. Fortunately, there are a range of health care professionals and charity partners for support during the diagnosis and treatment, as this can be a particular difficult time for some.

There is not one straightforward line of treatment for JIA as it can present in many subtypes, from different biological causes. Some children and young people have a procedure involving steroids to reduce inflammation and ease the symptoms of JIA. Others start taking disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) which can also reduce inflammation. For some children and young people with JIA, the initial treatment may not work for them, leading to a change of treatments to find the one that works best for them.

One of the aims of the CLUSTER consortium is to provide evidence for “the right medicine for the right child at the right time”. This is through research centres across the UK working hard to understand the underpinnings of JIA and optimal treatment options. GOSH is one of the centres specialising in JIA and uveitis, researching in partnership with our patients and families, which is a crucial to understanding JIA.

The CLUSTER Consortium is a UK wide consortium, led by Prof Lucy Wedderburn (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) and Prof Kimme Hyrich (University of Manchester), which has grown a community of clinicians, researchers, families, patients, industry partners and funders, to benefit children, young people and families living with arthritis.

The CLUSTER Consortium recently celebrated over six years of successful multidisciplinary collaboration and research, in close partnership with their Patient and Parent network called the CLUSTER Champions. Over 50 people attended the day of research and celebration, and shared cutting-edge findings in JIA and uveitis research, including the importance of research, clinical data and future research leaders. Research shared at the event demonstrated how complex patient response to treatment is, how blood cells carry information that can predict treatment response, as well as the potential of a new test that links genetics with uveitis.

An important legacy of CLUSTER is the creation of a vast anonymised database for research, while three researchers linked to the group obtained prestigious fellowships and grants to ensure the future of JIA research.

The team worked with Patient and Parent network (CLUSTER Champions), to create two short videos that showcased the successes of collaborative research, best practice and importance of patient and public involvement in research. This event was geared towards the research community and their funders, but the next steps will be to launch these videos in the Autumn as part of a webinar specifically catered to families, patients and the wider community.

Every step of CLUSTER's success is thanks to the fantastic teams working across disciplines, and the engaged stakeholders from industry and public. The work is not over, and these ongoing partnerships will continue to make great strides in JIA research to support children, young people and their families.

The CLUSTER Consortium has been funded by the MRC and receives significant funding from Versus Arthritis, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, NIHR, Sparks, Olivia's Vision and Fight for Sight.