Tremendous progress has been made in the treatment of arthritis over recent decades. However, much remains to be done.

In order to meet these research needs, blood and body tissue samples are absolutely vital. These are called biosamples and they are collected from people living with various forms of arthritis and related conditions. These biosamples, together with information about your condition, are stored in a biobank, where researchers can access the samples for use in research. These samples cannot be traced back to you.

 

About us

The Arthritis Research Coalition (ARC) Biobank was established by rheumatologists in Ireland to support research studies and clinical trial activities in this country. The following hospitals are participating in the ARC Biobank – and we are increasing this number:

• Beaumont Hospital, Dublin
• Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, Dublin
• Connolly Hospital, Dublin
• Cork University Hospital, Cork
• Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, Limerick
• The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin
• Merlin Park University Hospital, Galway
• Our Lady’s Hospital, Manorhamilton, Leitrim
• St James’s Hospital, Dublin
• St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin
• Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin
• University Hospital Galway
• University Hospital Limerick, Limerick

 

Research leads

Coalition lead: Prof Gerry Wilson

Rheumatoid arthritis	Prof Doug Veale
Connective tissues diseases	Dr Grainne Murphy
Paediatrics	Dr Orla Killeen
Scleroderma	Dr Bernadette Lynch
Gout	Prof Geraldine McCarthy

 

How do I get involved?

Participating in a biobank is a completely voluntary decision. Talk to your rheumatology team about what is involved and they will be able to answer any questions you may have. If you agree to participate, you will be asked to sign a consent form and also given further information.

Participating in the biobank will not change the care you receive from your rheumatology team. However, the biosamples you provide will help inform research into arthritis, which will enable scientists to develop a better understanding of issues like the causes of arthritis, severity of the disease, the effectiveness of treatments, why they work better for some people than for others.

This is an enormous contribution – your participation can help improve the healthcare of people with arthritis in the future.

One person who is already participating in the ARC Biobank is Sonya Delaney. Sonya is living with psoriatic arthritis and is a patient at St Vincent’s University Hospital. Here’s her story:

If you would like to get involved or would like further information, speak to your rheumatology team.
 

Governance

Ensuring the ethical governance of the Arthritis Research Coalition Biobank is of paramount concern to us. This protects you and your rights as a donor. Furthermore, it ensures that the biosamples you donate are stored securely and that they are used for ethically approved research. Ethics approval is secured at each hospital site by the relevant research ethics committee.

 

Funding

This coalition is supported by Arthritis Ireland, the Health Research Board Clinical Research Coordination Ireland (HRB CRCI), AbbVie, Novartis, Pfizer and UCB.

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