Biography

After my clinical training in internal medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, it was through formative mentorship during my sub-specialty training in rheumatology at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) that I understood the need for expanding our knowledge as it relates to immune-mediated diseases (i.e. autoimmune disease). In collaboration with Dr. Stone and Dr. Wallace in our Autoimmune Center of Excellence in IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD), while continuing to see patients with rheumatologic disease, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Shiv Pillai at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard. Since 2015, I have primarily been in the laboratory setting pursuing research studies using samples donated by patients that our group evaluates in the rheumatology unit at MGH. Over this time, I have developed interest in understanding and exploring the immune mechanisms and proteins being targeted by the immune response across a collection of diseases including IgG4-RD, systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma), sarcoidosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). All of these conditions share the common denominators of inflammation and fibrosis and an aim of my current endeavors is to compare and contrast the immune response across these disease states. This research has been funded by the Rheumatology Research Foundation through their Scientist Development Award and the Scleroderma Foundation's New Investigator grant. 

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