Dr Mary Canavan discusses knowledge of disease, diagnosis, adherence and impact of research in patients with inflammatory arthritis.

Dr Mary Canavan obtained her PhD in immunology in 2012 from Dublin City University. Her first postdoctoral position was in the rheumatology department, St Vincent's University Hospital, where she examined the role of hypoxia and metabolic dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis. Subsequently, she was awarded an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Enterprise Fellowship with Prof Ursula Fearon in Trinity College Dublin in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Recently in 2019, she was awarded a research fellowship from the American Association of Immunologists to examine the role of dendritic cells in synovial inflammation. She is an active member of the European Rheumatology Network – EMEUNET, previously on the leadership committee. Mary is associate editor for translational research BMC Rheumatology.

The symposium was chaired by Prof Ursula Fearon, chair of molecular rheumatology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute and by Prof Douglas Veale, consultant rheumatologist, St Vincent's University Hospital.