
Congratulations to Judith Smith, MD, PhD, for her award from the American College of Rheumatology for $75,000 for her one-year project, “Excess IL-23 production in ankylosing spondylitis and related arthritides.” The goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of the causes of Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and related arthritic conditions in the hope of developing other treatment options. Confirmation of excessive IL-23 production, as well as a greater understanding of the intracellular events leading to aberrant IL-23 production may suggest new therapeutic drug targets.