Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease of the joints that causes pain, disability and a reduced quality of life. It is a common disease that affects approximately 1:100 people worldwide. Cells from the blood move into the joints where they trigger inflammation causing stiffness and swelling, which eventually leads to irreversible joint damage and disability. Estimates suggest that 40% of patients are unable to work within 5 years of diagnosis. There is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis and current therapies are often toxic or their use by the NHS is limited by the cost. One of the leading therapies is only given to 10% of patients in the UK due to the high cost of manufacture. In addition, these therapies have many side effects and not all patients respond to treatment. Thus, there is an important medical need for the development of new more affordable therapies with fewer side effects. We have recently identified a possible link between toll-like receptors (proteins on cells that are normally used by the body to sense infections and tissue damage) and the inflammation found in the joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients. During this work we discovered chemicals that could control these receptors. When tested in joint tissue removed from rheumatoid patients having joint replacement surgery, we noticed that these chemicals could also reduce the inflammation in this tissue that is associated with the disease. To develop these chemicals into a drug that can be used in the clinic we first need to understand exactly how they work. To do this we will perform experiments that are comparable to going fishing. The chemicals will be used as bait to pull out the targets that they interact with in human cells. These targets will then be studied in detail to help us understand how they control toll-like receptors and inflammation. This will provide important information that is needed for the development of new therapies for rheumatoid arthritis in the future.

The Maputo Protocol is a groundbreaking human rights instrument which, for the first time in international law, makes explicit a right to abortion. However, time has demonstrated that the impact of this provision is far less radical than its existence. West Africa, regionally, has almost uniformly ratified the Protocol, yet still represents one of the world's most restrictive reproductive rights contexts. Building on postcolonial feminist arguments that the human rights project is more one of governance than freedom, and grounded in decolonial, African and intersectional feminist theory and methodology, this thesis will explore whether, in the face of the 'failure' of rights, the pursuit of freedom needs to step outside the liberal imaginary. Exploring and harnessing articulations of freedom in the cultural cosmologies of the Yoruba, this research will construct a framework, complementary to Article 14(2)(c), that will visualise a path to meaningful reproductive freedom in Yorubaland.

The feasibility of introducing a National Ovarian Cancer Screening programme similar to that offered to women for breast cancer, together with measurement of the procedure?s impact on morbidity and mortality is being supported by the MRC. We are conducting the Quality of Life and psychosocial impact of the screening study and to date have more than 187,000 women enrolled.

The results will be disseminated by publication in peer-reviewed journals and at scientific conferences. The applicants will also give talks on their research to lay audiences. The University of Sussex has a procedure and provides support for the public engagement and dissemination of research findings.