Emeritus Professor Sir Ravinder Maini and Professor Marc Feldmann from the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology division of the Faculty of Medicine at Charing Cross have received the 2003 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research.

The Lasker Awards were first awarded in 1946 and 66 recipients of the award have gone on to receive Nobel prizes. The prize was awarded for the discovery of anti-TNF (Tumour Necrosis Factor) treatment as an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and related diseases. This is only the third time that Rheumatology research has been recognised with a Lasker Award.

Rheumatoid arthritis affects about 400,000 people in the UK causing pain and joint damage leading to disability. In a series of experiments funded by the Arthritis Research Campaign Professors Maini and Feldmann found that a single cytokine, TNF, was capable of driving the progress of arthritis. The first clinical trial to exploit this with anti-TNF therapy took place at Charing Cross Hospital in 1992 and revealed dramatic improvements.

Professors Maini and Feldmann will be presented with the 2003 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in New York City on Friday 19th September.