Schulert Research Lab
Our primary focus of our lab is the pathogenesis of severe inflammatory and autoinflammatory disorders of childhood, in particular systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (systemic JIA) and its complications including macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) and lung disease (SJIA-LD). Although systemic JIA is considered a subtype of JIA, it has distinct clinical and epidemiologic characteristics, and its pathogenesis more fits the paradigm of autoinflammatory disorders. While many children with systemic JIA respond well to current treatments, many have refractory or difficult to treat disease, with disease burden.
Children with systemic JIA are also at high risk for life threatening complications. MAS is a potentially life-threatening episode of overwhelming inflammation occurring in 10-30% of systemic JIA patients, and is characterized by fevers, cytopenias, coagulopathy, liver and central nervous system dysfunction, and a systemic cytokine storm. SJIA-LD is a recently recognized and poorly understood complication that has emerged as a key driver of systemic JIA morbidity and mortality. The long-term goal of our lab is to determine the course and pathophysiology of severe complications of systemic JIA, leading to targeted therapy that improves patient outcomes.
Our lab is also home to the Pediatric Rheumatology Tissue Repository, part of the Cincinnati Rheumatic Diseases Core Center. The Pediatric Rheumatology Tissue Repository (PRTR) was established in 1996 and has been continuously supported by NIAMS funding to maximize the value of sample collections for translational research and minimize the burden on families and children. In 2017, the high value of the PRTR was recognized by its selection to serve as the United States biobank for the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Research Registry, the largest longitudinal study of pediatric rheumatic diseases in North America.
