Dr Harsha Gunawardena

I qualified from Bristol University, and then worked in Bristol and Australia. I dual trained in Rheumatology and General Medicine on the South West training rotation. With a view to specialise in autoimmune connective tissue disease and vasculitis I undertook a clinical research fellowship under the mentorship of Professor Neil McHugh at the Royal National Hospital of Rheumatic Diseases in Bath. I was subsequently awarded an Arthritis Research UK Research Fellowship in Paediatric Rheumatology to research immunological aspects of juvenile dermatomyositis with the UK Juvenile Myositis Research Group. This combined with collaborative studies with the UK Adult Myositis Research Network led to my PhD thesis Clinical and serological study of adult and juvenile myositis.

I continue to have a major academic interest in connective tissue disease and myositis. I am on the UK Myositis Network Steering committee, scientific advisor to the UK Juvenile Myositis Research Group, in addition to other UK connective tissue disease study groups. I am widely published in major international rheumatology journals, and have written several invited myositis review articles. I have spoken at several international meetings including the American College of Rheumatology Annual Congress (2010) and the European Science Foundation Myositis Workshop (2011).

As a NHS Consultant I run both General Rheumatology and Autoimmune Connective Tissue Disease Clinics at North Bristol NHS Trust. I look after patients with all forms of inflammatory arthritis including rheumatoid arthritis. I am the lead Consultant for Connective Tissue Disease and Vasculitis for the Rheumatology Department, and I am fully experienced in using novel immunomodulatory treatments including biologic therapy for these complex conditions.

My clinic is open on a Tuesday evening.