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Dr. Moser:

Dr. Moser 101
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Dr. Moser's CV in brief

Publications

Arthritis and Immunology Research Program

Dr. Moser In The News

OMRF helps Bethany woman identify mystery illness

Governor declares April Sjögren’s syndrome awareness month in Oklahoma

OMRF welcomes new board members, honors scientists

OMRF seeking Sjögren’s patients for study

Reckless Driving: OMRF discovers gene variant that "cuts the brakes' on immune system in lupus patients

Kathy L. (Hardgrave) Moser, Ph.D. Associate Member, Arthritis and Immunology Research Program Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma   Health Sciences Center Co-Director, Autoimmune and Cancer Biomarkers Group Director, Sjögren's Research Clinic

Research Interests
My laboratory is primarily interested in identifying and characterizing genes that predispose to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjögren’s syndrome (SS). SLE and SS  are complex rheumatic autoimmune diseases caused by the joint action of multiple genes and influenced by environmental factors. We use multidisciplinary approaches to study SLE and SS that draw on tools and concepts from immunology, genetics, biostatistics, bioinformatics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and microbiology to understand the underlying disease mechanisms.

Sjögren’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 Sjögren’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
Arthritis and Immunology Research Program, MS 24
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
825 N.E. 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104

Contact Information
Phone: (405) 271-2534
Fax: (405) 271-3045
E-mail: Kathy-Moser@omrf.org