Recipients

Childhood arthritis affects about 10,000 Canadian children and youth, making it one of the most common chronic conditions in children. A potentially disabling disease, arthritis is associated with pain and inflammation, and interferes with bone health and growth. Dr. Tracy Wilson-Gerwing is exploring new treatment options that will improve outcomes for children with arthritis.

Dr. Wilson-Gerwing and her team of researchers are studying how pain, inflammation and bone damage are related. By observing animals with experimental arthritis, they are gaining a better understanding of how pain messages are sent by the nerves in the presence of inflammation. They are also learning how bone growth and strength are affected by pain when it is accompanied by inflammation. As they test the animals for the presence of any pain and use advanced imaging techniques to look at the bone, they are gaining knowledge that will enable them to explore new methods for treating this combination of pain, inflammation and bone damage.

Dr. Wilson-Gerwing’s goal is to introduce treatments to control or eliminate inflammation, pain and damage to growing joints associated with childhood arthritis. By providing new, basic biologic information, the project could also substantially complement a nationwide study evaluating the role of physical activity as a treatment for childhood arthritis.

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