Science and Society

Large partnerships between academia and industry are emerging as a possible solution to the problems surrounding stratified medicine. In this Perspectives article, the members of the RA-MAP Consortium reflect on the challenges and benefits of working in such a partnership.

The goal of a development programme for a biosimilar product is to prove its biosimilarity to the reference product, rather than independently establish its safety and efficacy. In this Perspectives article, the authors describe the US FDA's rigorous approach to the assessment of biosimilarity for proposed biosimilar therapeutic proteins, including those intended to treat rheumatologic conditions.

During the past 35 years rheumatology in Korea has progressed remarkably swiftly in terms of academic activity, clinical practice and health care. However, the future of rheumatology in Korea requires continued efforts by rheumatologists, as well as government support, to enable translation of advances in basic research to clinical practice and promote the development of new treatments and technologies targeting rheumatic diseases.

In this APLAR series article, the unique pros and cons of rheumatology services and research in Australia are analysed. With the aim of optimizing the experience of patients, an improved model is proposed for data sharing in the healthcare system.

Funding and support for research and development in China is expanding at a rapid rate. In this APLAR Perspectives article, this growth is highlighted by advances in the field of rheumatology that have been catalysed by an increase in funding for Chinese rheumatology and by international partnerships.

The treatment of rheumatic diseases in India is beset with several problems, such as a high patient load and grossly inadequate number of trained rheumatology specialists. In this Perspectives article, Handa explores the most pressing challenges and suggests helpful approaches to overcome the limitations in rheumatology care in India.

Rheumatic diseases are a common health-care problem in Thailand. Patient care is influenced not only by differences in the prevalence, clinical traits and genetic variants of these diseases in Thailand compared with other countries, but by the country's health-care systems, availability of medicine and physicians, and rheumatology training, education and research. The author provides his expert view of the current challenges and barriers, recent successes and future prospects of rheumatology in Thailand.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an important cause of disability worldwide, and its impact is growing rapidly. In this Opinion article, the authors draw attention to the current and projected burden of OA for individuals and for health-care systems, and call for a shift in the approach to the disease.

With the advent of the internet and advances in social media and mobile devices, how people access information is rapidly evolving. In this Perspectives, Francis Berenbaum discusses the emerging uses of social media in medicine, with insights as to how social media is used in rheumatology in particular and how these developments are changing the way in which clinicians and patients interact.