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Research | Core Facilities | Patient Studies | Tech Transfer | Seminars | Intranet | Careers | Search | Contact Us | Ways To Give HOME |
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More about Arthritis and Immunology Research Program
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Research Interests Sjogren’s syndrome is a common, chronic, systemic disorder in which immune responses preferentially target moisture-producing glands. Dysfunction of salivary and lacrimal glands leads to the common symptoms of dry eyes and dry mouth, although multiple organ systems can also be involved and cause significant morbidity. SS may occur alone (in about 50% of patients) or in conjunction with other rheumatic autoimmune diseases such as SLE or rheumatoid arthritis. One major focus in our lab is to characterize gene expression profiles in SS using microarray technology. This powerful approach allows us to monitor the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously and identify key molecular pathways that are disregulated in patients compared to healthy controls. These studies clearly show that activation of interferon-inducible pathways are important in SS. Current studies are aimed at identifying additional pathways associated with SS and definung correlations with important clinical manifestations. A related goal is to identify genetic polymorphisms that contribute to disregulation of these pathways. For these studies and others, we have established an OMRF Sjogren’s Research Clinic. Patients and controls are extensively evaluated for clinical and laboratory features of SS. The comprehensive nature of data collection through this effort makes it a unique and extremely valuable resource for numerous studies in our lab and through collaborative efforts. SLE is a systemic autoimmune disease with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations involving inflammation in the joints, kidneys, brain, and other organs. Our lab has played a major role in a longstanding effort devoted to identifying genes involved in SLE. Recent projects include genome wide association studies using high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis, fine mapping of several newly discovered SLE genes, functional studies aimed at understanding how these genes contribute to disease mechanism, and using a variety of alternative analytical approaches to expand the growing list of SLE genes. Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 2007. Mailing Address
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