Ankylosing Spondylitis

What is ankylosing spondylitis? It is arthritis that affects the spine, usually producing redness, heat, swelling, and pain in the spine where it joins the pelvis.

Arthritis

Arthritis is joint inflammation that can cause stiffness or pain. Learn more about the symptoms & treatments.

Autoimmune Diseases

In autoimmune diseases, proteins known as autoantibodies target the body’s own healthy tissues by mistake, signaling the body to attack them.

Autoinflammatory Diseases

What are autoinflammatory diseases? They cause your immune cells to attack your body by mistake, and can cause fever, rash, joint swelling, and more.

Gout

What is gout? It is a kind of arthritis that causes painful and stiff joints. Gout is caused by the build-up of crystals of uric acid in your joints.

Hip Replacement Surgery

Hip replacement surgery removes damaged or diseased parts of a hip joint and replaces them with new, artificial parts.

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA)

Juvenile arthritis describes arthritis in children. Arthritis is caused by inflammation of the joints. Find out all you need to know about juvenile arthritis.

Osteoarthritis

What is osteoarthritis? It damages the slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones, causing bones to rub together, producing pain, swelling, and loss of motion.

Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis

Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis are closely linked inflammatory conditions. PMR causes muscle pain and stiffness in the shoulders, upper arms, hip area, and neck. GCA causes headaches, scalp tenderness, jaw pain, and eye problems.

Psoriatic Arthritis

What is psoriatic arthritis? It can occur in people who have psoriasis (scaly red and white patches). It affects the joints and areas where tissues attach to bone.

Reactive Arthritis

What is reactive arthritis? It is caused by an infection and results in joint pain and swelling. You may also have red, swollen eyes and a swollen urinary tract.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

What is rheumatoid arthritis? It is a disease that affects multiple joints, resulting in pain, swelling, and stiffness. Tiredness and fever may also be present.

Scleroderma

Scleroderma causes areas of tight, hard skin, but can also harm your blood vessels and organs. Learn the causes and treatments of this skin disease.

Sjögren’s Syndrome

What is Sjögren’s syndrome? It is a disease that affects the glands that make moisture. It most often causes dryness in the mouth and eyes.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Lupus)

Lupus is a disease where the body's defense system attacks healthy cells and tissues, causing damage to many parts of the body. Learn more about this disease.

Selected Research Areas

Lupus Genomics and Global Health Disparities Unit

Dr. Lewandowski leads a team of scientists studying systemic lupus erythematosus patients in populations around the globe. Her research focuses on genetic drivers of severe disease and inflammation in diverse cohorts worldwide.

Scleroderma Genomics and Health Disparities Unit

The Scleroderma Genomics and Health Disparities Unit is focused on unraveling genetic risk by using genomic technologies and dissecting the mechanisms of transcriptional regulation in order to comprehend autoimmune, fibrotic, and health disparity conditions.

Translational Genetics and Genomics Section

Led by Dr. Michael Ombrello, the section uses genomic approaches to understand the underlying factors of autoinflammatory and rheumatic diseases.

Scientific Publications

Neutrophil extracellular trap-associated carbamylation and histones trigger osteoclast formation in rheumatoid arthritis.

O'Neil LJ, Oliveira CB, Wang X, Navarrete M, Barrera-Vargas A, Merayo-Chalico J, Aljahdali R, Aguirre-Aguilar E, Carlucci P, Kaplan MJ, Carmona-Rivera C
Ann Rheum Dis.
2023 May;
82(5).
doi: 10.1136/ard-2022-223568
PMID: 36737106

Principles of pediatric lupus nephritis in a prospective contemporary multi-center cohort.

Vazzana KM, Daga A, Goilav B, Ogbu EA, Okamura DM, Park C, Sadun RE, Smitherman EA, Stotter BR, Dasgupta A, Knight AM, Hersh AO, Wenderfer SE, Lewandowski LB, CARRA Registry investigators
Lupus.
2021 Sep;
30(10).
doi: 10.1177/09612033211028658
PMID: 34219529

Somatic Mutations in UBA1 and Severe Adult-Onset Autoinflammatory Disease.

Beck DB, Ferrada MA, Sikora KA, Ombrello AK, Collins JC, Pei W, Balanda N, Ross DL, Ospina Cardona D, Wu Z, Patel B, Manthiram K, Groarke EM, Gutierrez-Rodrigues F, Hoffmann P, Rosenzweig S, Nakabo S, Dillon LW, Hourigan CS, Tsai WL, Gupta S, Carmona-Rivera C, Asmar AJ, Xu L, Oda H, Goodspeed W, Barron KS, Nehrebecky M, Jones A, Laird RS, Deuitch N, Rowczenio D, Rominger E, Wells KV, Lee CR, Wang W, Trick M, Mullikin J, Wigerblad G, Brooks S, Dell'Orso S, Deng Z, Chae JJ, Dulau-Florea A, Malicdan MCV, Novacic D, Colbert RA, Kaplan MJ, Gadina M, Savic S, Lachmann HJ, Abu-Asab M, Solomon BD, Retterer K, Gahl WA, Burgess SM, Aksentijevich I, Young NS, Calvo KR, Werner A, Kastner DL, Grayson PC
N Engl J Med.
2020 Dec 31;
383(27).
doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2026834
PMID: 33108101

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