A young Tasmanian doctor has returned home from working in Germany to take up a prestigious State Government medical award at the Menzies Research Institute to research a crippling rheumatic disease affecting thousands of Australians.

A young Tasmanian doctor has returned home from working in Germany to take up a prestigious State Government medical award at the Menzies Research Institute to research a crippling rheumatic disease affecting thousands of Australians.

Health and Human Services Minister Lara Giddings announced today that Dr Jane Zochling, who trained at the University of Tasmania and the Royal Hobart Hospital, had been awarded the latest Dick Buttfield Research Fellowship.

The Fellowship - worth $380,000 over five years - is made in honour of the late Dr Buttfield, who was one of Tasmania's best known and most respected health officials.

Ms Giddings said Dr Zochling was an outstanding young researcher who was already building an impressive international research profile.

The Fellowship will enable Dr Zochling to work at Tasmania's flagship medical research facility, the Menzies Research Institute, where she will study the rheumatic disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS).

"AS affects as many as 1 in 200 Australians - that's around 2,500 Tasmanians," Ms Giddings said.

"Yet its cause remains unknown - though there appears to be a strong genetic link."

Director of the Menzies Research Institute, Professor Simon Foote, said that Menzies is the ideal place to conduct this type of research.

"Menzies has comprehensive population-based disease registries and well developed genealogical resources," Professor Foote said.

"We also have an excellent reputation and links with the community, as well as highly experienced researchers and first-class laboratory facilities."

" We welcome Dr Zochling's appointment as the Buttfield Research Fellow as another example of the important relationship between the Menzies and the State Government."

Dr Zochling explained that Ankylosing Spondylitis caused arthritis of the spine and joints of the lower back, as well as inflammation of the eyes, lungs and heart valves.

"It occurs in twice as many men as women, and usually has its onset between the ages of 16 to 35," she said.

"It can vary from intermittent episodes of back pain that occur throughout life, to a severe chronic disease that attacks the spine, peripheral joints and other body organs, resulting in severe joint and back stiffness, loss of motion and progressive deformity."

Dr Zochling said the Fellowship would allow her to study AS cases in Tasmania to investigate diagnostic markers of the disease, its activity and the way it affects patients.

While working in Germany from 2004-2006, Dr Zochling coordinated an international set of recommendations for the management of Ankylosing Spondylitis.

She also published a number of findings from large studies on infections and triggers of the disease; set up a new study looking at osteoporosis in AS patients, and collaborated with the World Health Organization on issues relating to acute arthritis.

Back in Tasmania, Dr Zochling will also work with Professor Graeme Jones on other projects in the Menzies musculoskeletal research program, including those involved with fractures, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. She will also be providing consultations in Rheumatology.

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