ARHP Announces Grad Student Award Winners

Once this project is complete, Kanna plans to explore other aspects of RA via future research projects.

Denise Power

A PhD candidate in epidemiology at the University of Toronto, Denise Power was recognized for her proposed research on the fatigue experienced in patients with OA. After surveying the literature available on the topic of pain in OA, Power was surprised to find little information existed—especially given that fatigue can be a prominent effect of the disease.

“I was really surprised by the lack of information related to fatigue and OA,” explains Power. “Fatigue is recognized and studied in other rheumatic diseases, like RA. Why hadn’t the connection been more fully explored with OA?”

Power will look for predictors of fatigue in OA, paying particular attention to pain and depression. She will pull data for her study from a cohort developed by Gillian Hawker, MD, a rheumatologist at Women’s University Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Hawker followed a cohort of patients for nearly a decade, so her data provide a wealth of information for Power.

Her initial hypothesis is that pain and depression are directly linked to the level of fatigue in OA patients, but measuring these factors separately can be challenging, involving a variety of analytical methods and multiple data sources. Ultimately, Power hopes to gain a better understanding of how fatigue plays into disability with OA patients, because it is a huge cost factor associated with rheumatic diseases not only in Canada, but worldwide.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity,” says Power. “I am excited to be able to add to the knowledge base. Hopefully, my work can draw more attention to issues of fatigue and disability as related to OA, maybe even leading to better management of fatigue in OA and lower incidences of disability.”

After completing her research project, Power plans to continue focusing on the epidemiology of rheumatic diseases, with particular emphasis on OA.

Once their projects are complete, Kanna and Power will present their findings at a future ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting.