Research by Adam Mor, MD, PhD, a rheumatologist and molecular immunologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, focuses on the function of T lymphocytes in autoimmune disease and cancer

Research sites work collaboratively to define shared and disease-specific biological pathways in order to identify relevant drug targets for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and related autoimmune diseases.

Most importantly, we have come to understand the unique insights that patients offer into managing their own disease and have developed tools that make patients active team members in most effectively treating their SLE.

My time in Chicago made me much more focused on collaborative research because that is the only way that you can address the variabilities that patients bring — from different sites and different races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic classes. For example, some of our diseases vary in severity to some extent by ethnicity.

In addition to evaluating and caring for patients with metabolic bone disease, Dr. Russell has focused her attention on perioperative bone health, leading a team that includes specialists in rheumatology, endocrinology, and orthopedics.

The under-diagnosis of AS is partly due to under-recognition of its symptoms, resulting in a delay in referring patients to rheumatologists. But the delay is also due to the diagnostic method.

Lupus is a very complex disease that tends to affect young women who are in the prime of their lives. Along with coping with this lifelong disease, they are also prone to developing infections.

With new drug development specifically targeting vasculitis being limited, rheumatologists turned to investigating existing therapies.