The Bone and Joint Research Unit was established in 1975 by the Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC).  The Unit was accommodated within laboratories built by the ARC on the Whitechapel Campus.  The department has close links with the Clinical Department of Rheumatology and a number of clinical rheumatologists from the latter department hold Honorary Lectureships within the BJRU.

The research laboratories of the Unit relocated to the Charterhouse Campus of the Medical School where its links with other groups working on inflammation are strengthened.  The Unit is a multidisciplinary group of scientists and clinicians with interests in understanding the basic molecular mechanisms of autoimmune diseases and connective tissue disorders including rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.