Newcastle University

Qualifications

M.A., Ph.D., FRCP, CCT (Rheumatology)

Role and Responsibilities

Clinical Senior Lecturer in Rheumatology, Newcastle University

Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist, Newcastel upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 

Memberships

Royal College of Physicians, London
British society for Rheumatology
British Society for Immunology

Honours and Awards

Runner-up, Young Investgator Award, Medical Research Society (2002)
Runner-up, Barbara Ansell Prize, Royal Society of Medicine (2003)
Medawar Medal Finalist, British Society for Transplantation (2001)
Wellcome Trust Training Fellowship (1998-2001)

External Roles

Expert panel, EULAR SJogren's syndrome Study Group

Medical Council Member, British Sjogren's syndrome Association 

Member of Arthritis Research UK Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases Clinical Study Group Sub-committee 

Research Interests

To understand the cellular and moelcular mechanisms of autoimmunity and its regulation, with particular reference their clinical significance in primary Sjogren's syndrome and Rheumatoid arthritis, and to translate this knowledge into strategies to improve the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune disease.

Other Expertise

Sjogren's syndrome; Autoreactivity

Current Work

1. To set up a national cohort and biobank of patients with Primary Sjogren's syndrome
2. To understand the pathophysiological mechansims of primary Sjogren's syndrome, particularly the link to the symptom of fatigue and lymphoma risk.

3. To understand the role of autoantigen-driven immune responses in inflammatory arthritis
4. To investigate the use of T cell autoreactivity as biomarkers for RA
5. To dissect the role of regulatory T cells in autoimmune disease

1. To develop a comprehensive basic and translational research programme of primary Sjogren's syndrome
2. To develop an international collborative network of Sjogren's cohort and biobank

Research Roles

Principle investigator

Principle investigators for academic-led and industry-led clinical trials. 

Postgraduate Supervision

PhD students and MRes students

Esteem Indicators

Wellcome Trust Training Fellowship (1998-2001)
MRC Clinician Scientist (2006, not taken up)
Expert Panel Member, EULAR Sjogren's syndrome study group
Medical Council Member, British Sjogren's Syndrome Association

Funding

Current:

MRC patient cohort initiative (2008-12)
Sir Jules Thorn PhD Scholarship (2010-2013)  

MRC project grant (2012-16)

NIHR FSF (2012-13)

British Sjogren's Syndrome Assoication (2009-12)
JGWP Foundation Trust Project Grant (2011-12)

Research Capability Cluster (co-investigator)  

Past:

arc Clinical Senior Lecturership in Rheumatology (current)
arc Project grant (Co-investigator)
Wellcome Trust Training Fellowship (1998-2001)
arc PhD studentship (Oct 2007 - Sep 2010)
JGWP Foundation Trust Project Grant (2007-8 & 2008-10)
 

Undergraduate Teaching

Musculoskeletal medicine - clinical students

Personal tutor for clinical students 

Postgraduate Teaching

M.Res in Musculoskeletal Medicine

Specialist trainees in Rheumatology

• Newton J, Powell D, Mitchell S, Griffiths B, Bowman S, Ng WF, UK Primary Sjogren's Syndrome. Potentially treatable symptoms in primary Sjogren's Syndrome - Associated fatigue. In: Rheumatology: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Rheumatology. 2011, Brighton, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Cooles FAH, Pratt AG, Wilson G, Isaacs JD, Ng WF. Prevalence and diagnostic outcome relating to vitamin D deficiency in new patients presenting to an early arthritis clinic over 12 months. Clinical Rheumatology 2011, 30(8), 1137-1138.
• Juarez MJ, Toms TE, Mitchell S, Bowman S, Ng WF, Price E, Kitas G, UKPRSSR. Prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors in females with primary Sjogrens Syndrome. In: Rheumatology: Annual Meeting of the British Society for Rheumatology. 2011, Brighton, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Hassan B, Maxwell JR, Hyrich KL, Biologics in Rheumatoid Arthritis Genetics and Genomics Study Syndicate, Barton A, Worthington J, Isaacs JD, Morgan AW, Wilson AG. Genotype at the sIL-6R A358C polymorphism does not influence response to anti-TNF therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology 2010, 49(1), 43-47.
• von Delwig A, Locke J, Robinson JH, Ng WF. Response of Th17 Cells to a Citrullinated Arthritogenic Aggrecan Peptide in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis. Arthritis & Rheumatism 2010,62 1 143-149.
• Tudhope SJ, von Delwig A, Falconer J, Pratt A, Woolridge T, Wilson G, Isaacs JD, Ng WF. Profound invariant natural killer T-cell deficiency in inflammatory arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2010,69 10 1873-1879.
• Ng WF, Bowman SJ, Griffiths B, UKPSSR Study Group. United Kingdom Primary Sjogren's Syndrome Registry - a united effort to tackle an orphan rheumatic disease. Rheumatology 2011. ,50 1 32-39.
• Godkin A, Ng WF, Gallagher K, Betts G, Thomas HC, Lechler RI. Expansion of hepatitis C-specific CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells after viral clearance: A mechanism to limit collateral damage?. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2008, 121(5), 1277-1284.e3.
• Ng WF, Bowman SJ. Primary Sjogren's syndrome: too dry and too tired. Rheumatology 2010. ,49 5 844-853.
• Ng WF, Tudhope SJ, von Delwig A, Lilic D. Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell deficiency in chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis - A consequence or a cause?. Immunology Letters 2011. PO BOX 211, 1000 AE AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, 135(1-2), 180-183.
• Ng WF, von Delwig A, Carmichael AJ, Arkwright PD, Abinun M, Cant AJ, Jolles S, Lilic D. Impaired T_H17 responses in patients with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis with and without autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2010, 126(5), 1006-1015.e4.
• Ng WF, Bowman SJ. Biological therapies in primary Sjogren's syndrome. Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy 2011, 11(7), 921-936.
• W. F. Ng,P. J. Duggan,F. Ponchel,G. Matarese,G. Lombardi,A. D. Edwards,J. D. Isaacs,R. I. Lechler. Human CD4⁺CD25⁺ cells: a naturally occurring population of regulatory T cells. Blood 2001, 98(9), 2736-2744.
• Ng WF, Hernandez-Fuentes M, Baker R, Chaudhry A, Lechler RI. Reversibility with Interleukin-2 Suggests that T Cell Anergy Contributes to Donor-Specific Hyporesponsiveness in Renal Transplant Patients. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2002, 13(12), 2983-2989.
• R. Lechler,W. F. Ng,R. M. Steinman. Dendritic cells in transplantation--friend or foe?. Immunity 2001, 14(4), 357-68.
• Bracewell C, Isaacs JD, Emery P, Ng WF. Atacicept, a novel B cell-targeting biological therapy for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy 2009, 9(7), 909-919.
• Datta HK, Ng WF, Walker JA, Tuck SP, Varanasi SS. The cell biology of bone metabolism. Journal of Clinical Pathology 2008. , 61(5), 577-587.
• Hepburn AL, Lampert IA, Boyle JJ, Horncastle D, Ng WF, Layton M, Vyse TJ, Botto M, Mason JC. In vivo evidence for apoptosis in the bone marrow in systemic lupus erythematosus. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2007, 66(8), 1106-1109.
• Ng WF, Isaacs JD. From mice to men: the challenges of developing tolerance-inducing biological drugs for the clinic. In: Graca, L, ed. The Immune Synapse as a Novel Target for Therapy. Basel-Boston-Berlin: Birkhauser Verlar AG, 2007, pp. 169-185.
• Ng WF, Fantin F, Ng C, Dockery F, Schiff R, Davies KA, Rajkumar C, Mason JC. Takayasu's arteritis: a cause of prolonged arterial stiffness. Rheumatology 2006,45 6 741-745.
• Ng WF, Cohen P, Hepburn A, Hamdulay S, Carpani M, Mason JC. A case of eosinophilic enteritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology 2005. , 44(12), 1585-1586.
• Bonnefoix T, Bonnefoix P, Perron P, Mi JQ, Ng WF, Lechler R, Bensa JC, Cahn JY, Leroux D. Quantitating Effector and Regulatory T Lymphocytes in Immune Responses by Limiting Dilution Analysis Modeling. Journal of Immunology 2005,174 6 3421-3431.
• Schneider H, Mandelbrot DA, Greenwald RJ, Ng F, Lechler R, Sharpe AH, Rudd CE. Cutting Edge: CTLA-4 (CD152) Differentially Regulates Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase and c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase) in CD4⁺ T Cells from Receptor/Ligand-Deficient Mice. The Journal of Immunology 2002, 169(7), 3475-3479.
• Camara NO, Ng WF, Hernandes-Fuentes M, Eren E, Lechler RI. Human CD4+ CD25+ T cells regulate CD8+ T-cell activation. Transplantation Proceedings 2002, 34(7), 2858-2860.
• R. I. Lechler,W. F. Ng,N. O. Camara. Infectious tolerance? Mechanisms and implications. Transplantation 2001, 72(8 Suppl), S29-31.
• W. F. Ng,M. P. Hernandez-Fuentes,G. Lombardi. Predictive value of in vitro assessment of direct alloresponses in transplant recipients?. Transplantation 2001, 72(5), 772-3.
• W. F. Ng,R. J. Baker,M. Hernandez-Fuentes,A. Chaudhry,R. I. Lechler. The role of T-cell anergy in the maintenance of donor-specific hyporesponsiveness in renal transplant recipients. Transplant Proc 2001, 33(1-2), 154-5.
• Ng W-F, Naughton M. Fluoroquinolone-associated tendinopathy: A case report. Journal of Medical Case Reports 2007, 1(55).
• Ng WF, Demetriadi F, Hall A, Steuer A. [abstract] Mesenteric Inflammatory veno-occlusive disease. Rheumatology 2003, 42(s1), 109.