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Clinical interests

Professor Sofat is a consultant in rheumatology. She conducts clinics in general rheumatology, inflammatory arthritis, vasculitis and osteoarthritis at the Hotung Centre for musculoskeletal diseases at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She is a member of the rheumatology team caring for patients on rheumatology specialist wards.

Professor Sofat works on the causes of pain and inflammation in musculoskeletal diseases using a bench-to-bedside experimental approach. She has conducted a number of clinical trials and studies investigating pain mechanisms in arthritis and in patients with neuropsychiatric rheumatic conditions such as SLE and vaculitis.

Professional profile

Professor Sofat qualified in medicine from University College London. She completed her specialist training in rheumatology in 2007 and also earned her PhD from Imperial College London the same year. She has been a consultant at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since 2009.

The group led by Professor Sofat have established the importance of different characteristics of pain in arthritis using techniques including sensory testing and imaging of the joint by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Her group has shown how the brain is activated during arthritis pain (in collaboration with Professor Franklyn Howe). Professor Sofat’s group have tested drugs to combat pain in arthritis patients from her rheumatology clinics which target pain sensitisation.

As well as carrying out clinical studies, Professor Sofat’s group investigates how different parts of the joint trigger pain and inflammation. Her group performed the first gene expression study of bone marrow lesions in arthritis. Ultimately, a better understanding of the mechanisms inducing pain and inflammation could be used to develop improved diagnostic tools and treatments for arthritis.

  • Member Royal College of Physicians (RCP)
  • Member British Society of Rheumatology (BSR)
  • Member American College of Rheumatology (ACR)
  • Member of European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)
  • Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow 2003-2006