Translational and clinical aspects of osteoimmunology; osteoporosis pathogenesis and treatment Research in a Nutshell Image Dr Barbara Hauser Osteoimmunology Dr Hauser is interested in the mechanism of systemic bone loss in rheumatic disease and vasculitis. She has published on prevalence and predictors of osteoporosis in Rheumatoid Arthritis, and she has described the finding of bone specific autoantibodies and their association to bone health in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Axial Spondyloarthritis. Her current research focusses on the effect of antirheumatic treatments (Glucocorticoids, Methotrexate, TNF inhibitors) on bone health and fracture risk. The aim is to understand how to prevent adverse effects on bone health when using antirheumatic treatments. Osteoporosis pathogenesis and treatment Dr Hauser is involved in setting up, analysing and summarising observational studies which provide “real world evidence” on various osteoporosis treatments. Observational data helps to understand how osteoporosis treatments work in different patient populations and may help to identify clinical and genetic predictors of treatment response. She is a NHS Research Scotland clinician and is the local Principal Investigator for NHS Lothian for the Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis Study, a survey which investigates potential causes and characteristics of Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis. Paget’s disease of bone Dr Hauser collaborates with Prof Stuart Ralston on research projects on Paget’s Disease. She is the local principal investigator on the Genetic Analysis to Prevent the Development of Paget’s Disease (GAPDPD) which uses genetic profiling to identify individuals at high risk of developing Paget’s Disease. Additionally, she collaborates with Kathryn Berg on the Pain in Paget’s (PiP) study which aims to achieve greater understanding of the causes and mechanism of pain in Paget’s disease. Dr Hauser is an ECTS academy member and collaborates with researchers in the musculoskeletal field nationally and internationally. Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis Study Pain in Paget’s (PiP) study (External website) People Dr Barbara Hauser Group Leader/Consultant Rheumatologist Hannah Schafer Data Capturer Debbie Alexander Lead Research Nurse Joanne Dobson Research Nurse Contact barbara.hauser@ed.ac.uk HTML Collaborations Professor Stuart Ralston, Centre for Genomic & Experimental Medicine, IGC, University of Edinburgh Scientific Themes Osteoimmunology, observational studies on osteoporosis treatments, metabolic bone disease This article was published on 2024-09-23
