Leading rheumatologist and immunologist, Sir Ravinder Maini, FRS, will speak at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar tomorrow (January 31). 

Sir Ravinder 's ground-breaking work on causes and treatments of rheumatoid arthritis has won him the title of “Father of Translational Research.”

He collaborated for more than 20 years with Professor Feldmann, FMedSci, FAA, FRS, at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in basic research and clinical trials that have transformed the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic inflammatory conditions.   They identified TNF as a key cytokine, or cell signalling molecule, in the development of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases and developed a therapy to counteract it, said a statement.    

He and Feldmann have been widely honoured for their work.  They received the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award in 2003 and the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy in 2000, among others.  Knighthood was conferred on Professor Maini by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003.

Professor Maini’s presentation “Bench to Bedside Research and Development of anti-TNF Therapy” will highlight the pivotal nature of translational research in the biomedical arena.

Professor Maini is currently emeritus professor of rheumatology at the Imperial College London and a trustee of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology Trust. He served as director of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Imperial College of London for more than a decade.  He is a founding co-editor in-chief of Arthritis Research and Therapy and has authored more than 449 publications.

The talk will start at 5 pm. - TradeArabia News Service