OMRF Secures $2 Million for Groundbreaking Arthritis Treatment Research

Approximately half of people over the age of 60 will develop osteoarthritis. Oklahoma medical researchers hope to help break the cycle by reversing the effects of osteoarthritis in an entirely new way.

Osteoarthritis, or OA, is the leading cause of disability in the United States. “A lot of people get it, and we don’t understand why,” said Dr. Matlock Jeffries of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. That is what Dr. Jeffries and his team of OMRF researchers are trying to discover.

“OA is by far the most common form of arthritis,” Jeffries explained. “People simply believed it was wear and tear. “It is truly an inflammatory disease.”

There is no cure for OA. Currently, the only option to treat it is with over-the-counter medications, prescriptions, or surgery. According to the OMRF, 1.5 million adults in the United States get the procedure each year, costing the healthcare system almost $50 billion.

Now, there is an emphasis on treating OA knees.

ARPA-H, a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services, was founded in 202 to promote high-risk, high-reward biomedical research. Its initial focus is OA.

“They’re going to throw a ton of money at something to try to get something done in a short period,” Jeffries added. Washington University in St. Louis is spearheading the effort, with funding of up to $31 million more.

Jeffries stated that the project should be completed in five years, with human testing beginning in 2.5 years.

“In the world of research, it’s pretty short-term,” Jeffries remarked. The OMRF will receive $2 million to help with human testing. They were picked due to their extensive experience conducting clinical studies with Native Americans.

“It appears the highest risk of people to develop OA are African American and Native American women,” Jeffries added. “That’s the population we’re planning to pull our clinical trial in a few years from.”

The OMRF is not currently recruiting test volunteers, but they are looking for patients for their OA Clinic. When the studies begin, the doctor will look for people with knee OA, including some who already have the condition.