Linking Genes, Respiratory Illness, and Rheumatoid Arthritis

What biomedical issue did you address in your research and what did your studies find?

I'm a rheumatologist at Mayo Clinic. My passion to study rheumatic disease stems from a family member who's had a severe autoimmune disease since childhood. My research trajectory began several years ago, during my residency at Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education. Guided by one of my early mentors, former chair of rheumatology and now-Emeritus Professor Eric Matteson, M.D., our team found that respiratory diseases like sinusitis are associated with increased risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis. This discovery eventually led to my graduate thesis research.

I began my Ph.D. as a practicing physician and became part of  Mayo's Clinician-scientist Academic Research Excellence Program (CARE) Ph.D. program for people who have already earned medical degrees. My graduate thesis, under the mentorship of statistician and rheumatic disease expert Cynthia Crowson, Ph.D., aimed to uncover the biologic pathways of rheumatoid arthritis to improve its diagnosis and treatment. We used genomic data available from the Mayo Clinic Biobank. Our biobank's ability to link genomic data to electronic health records of patients with rheumatoid arthritis is unique among large biorepositories. We also collaborated with researchers at Mass General Brigham Biobank to further validate our findings.

Our studies found new gene-respiratory disease pathways for rheumatoid arthritis that may enable an individualized approach to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

What aspects of Mayo's culture and approach to training helped you grow as a scientist and as a thinker?

I loved my courses, the grant writing workshops and the leadership series I undertook during my Ph.D. because they helped accelerate my growth as a scientist and leader. I also learned from Mayo's culture of generating high-quality data with the use of resources like the Mayo Clinic Biobank. 

What's next?

As a physician-scientist at Mayo Clinic, I am applying for an early career grant to continue studying genetics and microbiome in rheumatoid arthritis and to continue mentoring trainees in areas that are important to me. These include evaluating and optimizing clinical guidelines, leveraging artificial intelligence for practice innovation, and studying nature as medicine. My long-term career goal is to improve the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diseases.

To other students and my mentees, I advise identifying your unique purpose: the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what serves others. When you do that, work no longer feels like work!