Professor Patricia Woo is Professor of Paediatric Rheumatology and Head of the Centre for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology at University College. She is an international leader in the field of paediatric rheumatology. Her work includes the first description of the human acute phase serum amyloid A genes, the elucidation of the mechanisms of their transcriptional regulation by inflammatory cytokines, and identification of the part of the protein that is important for amyloid fibre formation. Her recent research has moved to the search for functional polymorphisms in cytokine genes. These may determine varying responses to inflammatory stimuli, and be associated with particular subgroups of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.