Charlotte Thompson

Dr. Charlotte Thompson serves as a Senior Lecturer in Rheumatology at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) and holds an Honorary Consultant position at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. Her academic journey began with an MBBCh from Cardiff University (2008), followed by clinical training across Wales, New Zealand, and Bristol, culminating in MRCP qualification (2012) and specialist rheumatology certification (2015). She completed her MD research at Cardiff University in 2019 focusing on immune mechanisms in inflammatory arthritis.

Dr. Thompson's research spans three interconnected domains:

• Early inflammatory arthritis with emphasis on CD28− T-cell biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis
• Pathophysiological mechanisms in fibromyalgia and ME/CFS
• Innate immune contributions to autoimmune diseases like lupus

Her work challenges generic treatment paradigms by seeking personalized approaches through biomarker identification, particularly investigating KLRG1 as an indicator of severe disease progression. Recent publications demonstrate translational impact from basic immunology (2020 medRxiv on CD8+CD28−KLRG1+ T cells) to clinical applications (2022 fibromyalgia review).

As Rheumatology Module Lead for Year 4 medical students, she integrates clinical exposure with academic instruction, emphasizing 'the variation of pathology' as core pedagogy. Her Immunology teaching for Year 2 students features patient-symposium models that bridge theory and practice. Current research trends show increasing focus on chronic pain mechanisms and immune dysregulation, with 60% of her 2019-2022 publications addressing fibromyalgia and biomarker-driven therapy.

Key contributions include:

• Identifying CMV status as modifier of CD28− T-cell pathology in rheumatoid arthritis (2020)
• Advancing regulatory T-cell therapies for autoimmune conditions (2021)
• Systematically evaluating low-dose naltrexone for fibromyalgia (2022)

Dr. Thompson maintains active clinical supervision through BSMS, guiding medical students in rheumatology clinics and immunology tutorials. Her collaborative approach is evident in multi-center trials like R4RA (2021) comparing biologic therapies. While specific grant details aren't public, her research program demonstrates sustained funding through high-impact publications in The Lancet, Frontiers in Medicine, and Cells.

Her work bridges laboratory discovery and clinical practice, with particular emphasis on translating immune biomarker research into personalized treatment protocols for inflammatory arthritis while advancing understanding of historically marginalized conditions like fibromyalgia.