Dr Madelon de Jong is a clinician scientist at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology whose work focuses on the pathology of autoimmune diseases. She is was one of three researchers awarded a Career Development Fellowship (CDF) from Arthritis UK in Spring 2026.
The Arthritis UK CDF aims to provide talented researchers with the opportunity to develop an independent research career. Madelon will therefore start to build a team at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology.
During her Fellowship, Madelon will investigate how blood cell production changes in auto-immune conditions. Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow, and this process is known to be altered in disease. She will look at how changes in the pattern of blood cell production in the bone marrow relate to auto-immune disease progression and flare-ups. This question is relatively unexplored and could potentially provide insights into novel treatment methods.
Madelon said ‘I’m very grateful to Arthritis UK for their support. This fellowship gives me the independence to pursue questions I’ve been circling for some time: how the bone marrow is altered in autoimmune disease, and how these changes relate to inflammation ongoing in the peripheral inflamed compartments. I’m really looking forward to start building my own team and taking this work forward.’
Professor Jelena Bezbradica Mirkovic, who leads the group at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology which Madelon joined in 2023, said ‘We were incredibly fortunate to recruit Madelon to our team a few years ago. She brought new research direction to the team and built the strong collaboration with Prof Buckley and Prof Coles, to understand the local and systemic effects of autoimmune diseases. With the support of Arthritis UK, she will explore bone marrow changes in autoimmune diseases to understand how they drive disease severity and systemic manifestations. Madelon is an incredibly talented clinician scientist, and we are immensely grateful to Arthritis UK for recognising her talent and supporting her as CDF.’