Funding a New Skin Research Facility

We are delighted to be funding a new skin research facility in the lupus clinic at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT).

LTHT is one of the largest rheumatology departments in Europe and runs a specialist lupus clinic every week. It is also home to the UK’s only musculoskeletal research unit – the Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit (LMBRU) – and a number of researchers are currently looking at understanding lupus to improve care and treatment for patients.

We met Dr Ed Vital, Consultant in Rheumatology at LTHT and Honorary Professor at the University of Leeds, to find out how this new facility will benefit patients.

As many of you will have experienced, lupus can affect a patient’s skin, either as discoid lupus or as a symptom of SLE, including the infamous rashes. The money we have donated to LTHT will purchase equipment for biopsies and photographs in a new facility based at Chapel Allerton Hospital to help identify and monitor skin conditions. This is useful for helping to manage a patient’s treatment but also benefits the research programmes taking place at the hospital.

This facility will make the clinical service more convenient for patients as they won’t need to attend multiple appointments but also means that doctors, nurses and researchers can better conduct research into skin conditions associated with lupus.

We hope the facility will be up and running within the next few months and we’re looking forward to seeing the difference it makes to patients.

We would like to say a big thank you to all of our amazing fundraisers and supporters who have made this possible!