Rheumatism is a non-specific term used to describe any painful disorder affecting the loco-motor system including joints, muscles, connective tissues and soft tissues around the joints and bones. Rheumatologic disorders include ageing-related pathologies such as osteoarthritis, inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or spondyloarthropaties, and systemic autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Behcet´s disease and others. Rheumatic and autoimmune diseases have a huge socioeconomic impact, given the high prevalence or morbidity of some of them. Furthermore, they present several currently unmet medical needs: their early diagnosis is often difficult, they have a challenging heterogeneous clinical course and treatment choices are not yet personalized. 

The general objective of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Disorders (RAD) initiative is the generation of new knowledge on proteins involved in prognostic, therapeutic, and physiopathological issues taking place in rheumatic and autoimmune diseases. This will allow improving our diagnostic and prognostic capacity, exploring potential therapeutic biomarkers, and obtaining basic knowledge on alternative disease pathogenesis not presently addressed by current therapies. As a strategic goal, this newly launched initiative aims to improve the research capacity of the groups working in RAD, as well as to facilitate the cooperative research in this area through the development of networking activities.