Dr Clarissa Pilkington
Overview
Dr Clarissa Pilkington is one of London's leading rheumatologists. Specialising in paediatric rheumatology, systemic lupus erythematosus, juvenile dermatomyositis, juvenile arthritis, hypermobility and pain syndromes, she is based at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
She has over 30 years of experience, which began with a BSc in neuroanatomy and immunology, before going on to qualify from Middlesex Hospital Medical School with a bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery degree. Dr Pilkington later passed the Royal College of Physicians membership exam in paediatrics and gained the Certificate of Completion of Speciality Training (CCST) in paediatrics and rheumatology.
Dr Pilkington is the former president of the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology (BSPAR) and also previously served as chair of the Paediatric Rheumatology European Society's dermatomyositis group. Throughout her career she has immersed herself in research, she is a founding member of the UK paediatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus study group, as well as clinical director of the Juvenile Dermatomyositis Research Centre. Additionally, she has written over 100 articles and has presented numerous conference papers.
Credentials
• Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
• Juvenile Dermatomyositis
• Scleroderma
• Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis
• Hypermobility
Training:
• BSc (Hons) Class 1, UCL: Neuroanatomy and Immunology
• MMBS Middlesex Hospital Medical School
• MRCP (Paediatrics)
• CCST Paediatrics and Paediatric Rheumatology
Membership:
• Clinical Director of Juvenile Dermatomyositis Research Centre, ICH
• Chair of Dermatomyositis Group of PRES (Paediatric Rheumatology European Society) 2004-10
• Clinical Lead for Rheumatology since 2004
• Clinical Lead for RhescU: Rheumatology Shared care Unit: shared care network for London and the South-East
• President of the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology (BSPAR)
• Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM)
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
• Scleroderma.
Dr Pilkington is a founder member of the UK JDM National Registry and the paediatric SLE UK cohort study and database with international clinical research into JDM and juvenile SLE.
News & Publications
Varsani, H., Charman, S.C., Li, C.K., Marie, S.K., Amato, A.A., Banwell, B., Bove, K.E., Corse, A.M., Emslie-Smith, A.M., Jacques, T.S., Lundberg, I.E., Minetti, C., Nennesmo, I., Rushing. E.J., Sallum, A.M., Sewry, C., Pilkington, C.A., Holton, J.L., Wedderburn, L.R.; UK Juvenile Dermatomyositis Research Group. 2015.Validation of a score tool for measurement of histological severity in juvenile dermatomyositis and association with clinical severity of disease. Ann Rheum Dis. 74(1) pp. 204-10.
Ferrari, J., Pilkington, C., 2014. Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis: the prevalence of lower-limb and foot involvement. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 104(6) pp. 583-7.
McCann, L.J., Arnold, K., Pilkington, C.A., Huber, A.M., Ravelli, A., Beard, L., Beresford, M.W., Wedderburn, L.R., Developing a provisional, international Minimal Dataset for Juvenile Dermatomyositis: for use in clinical practice to inform research. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J. 12 p. 31
Tansley S.L., Betteridge, Z.E., Gunawardena, H., Jacques, T.S., Owens, C.M., Pilkington, C., Arnold, K., Yasin, S., Moraitis, E., Wedderburn, L.R., McHugh, N.J., UK Juvenile Dermatomyositis Research Group. 2014. Anti-MDA5 autoantibodies in juvenile dermatomyositis identify a distinct clinical phenotype: a prospective cohort study. Arthritis Res Ther. 16(4):R138.
Chiewchengchol, D., Murphy, R., Morgan, T., Edwards, S.W., Leone, V., Friswell, M., Pilkington, C., Tullus, K., Rangaraj, S., McDonagh, J.E., Gardner-Medwin, J., Wilkinson, N., Riley, P., Tizard, J., Armon, K., Sinha, M.D., Ioannou, Y., Mann, R., Bailey, K., Davidson, J., Baildam, E.M., Pain, C.E., Cleary, G., McCann, L.J., Beresford, M.W; UK JSLE Study Group.Mucocutaneous manifestations in a UK national cohort of juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Rheumatology (Oxford). 53(8) pp.1504-12.
Smith, E.M., Foster, H.E., Gray, W.K., Taylor-Robinson, D., Beresford, M.W.; UK JSLE Study Group. 2014. Predictors of access to care in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus: evidence from the UK JSLE Cohort Study. Rheumatology (Oxford).53(3) pp. 557-61.
Huber, A.M., Lovell, D.J., Pilkington, C.A., Rennebohm, R.M., Rider, L.G., 2014. Confusion concerning multiple versions of the childhood myositis assessment scale.Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 66(4) pp. 648.
Watson, L., Tullus, K., Pilkington, C., Chesters, C., Marks, S.D., Newland, P., Jones, C.A., Beresford, M.W., 2014. Urine biomarkers for monitoring juvenile lupus nephritis: a prospective longitudinal study.Pediatr Nephrol. 29(3) pp. 397-405.
Kavirayani, A., Foster, H.E.; British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology. 2013. Paediatric rheumatology practice in the UK benchmarked against the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology/Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance Standards of Care for juvenile idiopathic arthritis.Rheumatology (Oxford). 52(12) pp. 2203-7.
Miller, F.W., Cooper, R.G., Vencovský, J., Rider, L.G., Danko, K., Wedderburn, L.R., Lundberg, I.E., Pachman, L.M., Reed, A.M., Ytterberg, S.R., Padyukov, L., Selva-O'Callaghan, A., Radstake, T.R., Isenberg, D.A., Chinoy, H., Ollier, W.E., O'Hanlon, T.P., Peng, B., Lee, A., Lamb, J.A., Chen, W., Amos, C.I., Gregersen, P.K.; Myositis Genetics Consortium. Genome-wide association study of dermatomyositis reveals genetic overlap with other autoimmune disorders.Arthritis Rheum. 65(12) pp. 3239-47.
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