N OT E WO RT H Y E V E N T s
UAB Scleroderma Symposium.
Maria Trojanowska, PhD, director
of the Arthritis Center at Boston
University, was keynote speaker for the
UAB Scleroderma Symposium held
December 5, 2013, and organized
by Barri Fessler, MD, MSPH, the
Dunn Scleroderma Scholar in the
Division. The symposium was cosponsored by the Division of Clinical
Immunology and Rheumatology,
the UAB Comprehensive Arthritis,
Musculoskeletal, and Autoimmunity
Center, and the UAB BioMatrix
Engineering and Regenerative
Medicine Center.
58th Annual Lowe Conference. This
event was held in September 2013 at
Camp McDowell, near Birmingham.
Presenters included keynote speaker
Joanne Jordan, MD, MPH, chief,
Division of Rheumatology and
Allergy & Immunology, University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Rane
McLaughlin, MD, second-year fellow,
was awarded the 8th Annual Gene V.
Ball, MD Award for Outstanding Case
Presentation.
Singh First UAB Researcher to Garner Funding From
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
UAB MEDICINE NEWS
held in San Diego in October 2013. In addition to
Alarcón Awarded Honorary Doctoral Degree
Immunodeficiency With Rheumatic and
more than 70 abstracts as oral and poster presentations,
Professor Emerita Graciela Alarcón, MD, MPH,
Autoimmune Disorders
several faculty members moderated state-of-the-art
received the distinction of Dr. Honoris Causa from the
ensure that the information
To assist with the evaluation and management of
sessions, basic and clinical science symposia, and
Universidad de Asunción in Asunción, Paraguay, in
UAB Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, has
created is helpful, practical,
patients with the unique problems of inherited or
presented clinical and research talks. During the opening
September 2013. Alarcon is the Jane Knight Lowe Chair
received a $1.5 million, 3-year funding award from the federal
and relevant to patients
acquired immunodeficiencies, the Division of Clinical
session, Kenneth Saag, MD, MSc, was awarded the
of Medicine in Rheumatology, Department of Medicine,
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI ).
facing treatment decisions
Immunology and Rheumatology offers the combined
Rheumatology Research Foundation Excellence in
Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology.
for lupus.
expertise of specialists in Developmental and Clinical
Investigative Mentoring Award, and Melissa L. Mannion,
Her interests are focused on prevention and outcomes
Immunology as well as Rheumatology in a single venue
MD, fellow in pediatric rheumatology who will join the
research dedicated to the study of risk factors accounting
Jasvinder Singh, MD, associate professor of medicine in the
Singh is the first member of the UAB faculty to be funded by
“Our long-term goal is
the PCORI. The awards fund comparative clinical effectiveness
research designed to answer questions most important to
to make sure that minority
convened weekly at The Kirklin Clinic at UAB. Prescott
faculty in October 2014, received an ACR Distinguished
for poor disease outcomes among patients with different
patients and those who care for them.
patients with lupus have the
Atkinson, MD, PhD (both pediatric and adult), and
Fellow Award.
rheumatic disorders, to the modification of these risk
information they need to
Harry Schroeder, MD, PhD (primarily adult), represent
make informed decisions, at
Developmental and Clinical Immunology, and Winn
Bridges to Lead American
advances in clinical practice. She focuses on systemic
develop a computer tool called a decision aid to help doctors and
the right time, so they may
Chatham, MD, represents Rheumatology.
College of Rheumatology
lupus erythematosus and is the PI for the LUMINA and
their African American and Hispanic lupus patients with kidney
actively participate in their
Division Directors Taskforce
PROFILE studies of SLE.
disease choose the best treatment for each individual patient.
health care,” says Singh. “The use of decision aids will improve
inherited or acquired immunodeficiencies often present
S. Louis Bridges Jr, MD, PhD,
Lupus most commonly affects young women and occurs
patient care and decrease racial and ethnic disparities for lupus
with autoimmune and/or rheumatic complications. While
director of UAB’s Division
patients in the United States.”
many of these disorders become manifest in childhood, a
of Clinical Immunology and
significant percentage of patients present with the initial
Rheumatology, has been selected
Singh’s project, “Individualized Patient Decision Making
for Treatment Choices Among Minorities With Lupus,” will
more frequently in minority women. African American and
Jasvinder Singh, MD
With these latest awards, made under PCORI’s five National
Hispanic women have more severe disease and are more likely
to die of lupus compared to white women. If not treated early
Priorities for Research, the institute has approved more than
with strong medications, kidney disease caused by lupus can
$303 million since 2012 to support patient-centered clinical
In addition to problems with infections, patients with
signs or complications in their adult years.
Management of such patients poses diagnostic as
factors and to the implementation of evidence-based
as chair of the American College of Rheumatology
(ACR) Division Directors Taskforce. The charge of
effectiveness research. It is on track to commit more than $400
well as therapeutic challenges, as the autoimmune and
ACR Division Directors Taskforce is to create a mission,
million in research support in 2013. Singh’s project is one of 24
rheumatic presentations are often atypical and treatment
measurable goals, and a strategic plan to address current
treatments available for kidney disease in patients with lupus
funded awards made in PCORI’s priority area of assessment of
needs to be tailored in the context of the underlying
issues faced by Rheumatology Division Directors. There
and use statistical analysis to determine the best estimates of the
prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options.
immune deficiency. Care and consultations are provided
will be a draft proposal brought to the ACR Executive
risks and benefits for lupus medications. The decision aids will
for patients with pediatric immune deficiency syndromes
Committee outlining the goals of the group and the
be developed with input from patients at all stages in order to
transitioning to adult care as well as adult patients with
strategy and timeline for achieving those goals. Other
rheumatic and autoimmune disorders who are found to
members include Abby Abelson, MD, Cleveland Clinic;
have underlying immune deficiency.
Mike Holers, MD, University of Colorado, Denver; Dan
lead to kidney failure and the need for dialysis.
Singh’s team will compare all published studies on the
Following assessment of antibody and immune
continued from cover
be used to facilitate patient-provider interaction around
The data are expected to result in new insights into the
optimal use of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapies and will
pathogenesis of SpA, suggest potential new biomarkers
be integrated with information in electronic health record
for diagnosis and monitoring, and lead to new approaches
this cycle: Northwestern University, Chicago, and the
systems. The project is expected to demonstrate benefit for
to therapy by manipulating the microbiota and adaptive
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The other
both process and outcomes among patients with RA.
immune responses to it.
seven MCRCs are: Boston University Medical Campus;
Project 2. “Adaptive Immune Responses to Gut
Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Centers build on
by Saag; and now the MCRC.
Only two other MCRC centers were awarded during
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston; Cincinnati
Microbiota in Juvenile and Adult Spondyloarthritis” will
a meritorious research base and are expected to leverage
Children’s Hospital Medical Center; Dartmouth College,
be led by PI Charles Elson, MD, and coPI Matthew Stoll,
existing institutional infrastructure resources.
New Hampshire; Medical University of South Carolina,
MD, PhD.
The second project will integrate cutting-edge
technologies of antigen identification with microbiome/
metagenome analysis to provide novel information on
the microbial contributions to spondyloarthritis (SpA).
2
F o r R e f e rra l s : 8 0 0 . 8 2 2 . 6 4 7 8
Battafarano, DO, Brooke Army Medical Center, San
cell profiles, functional immune responses, and
Antonio; Joanne Jordan, MD, MPH, University of North
occasionally genetic analysis, a comprehensive plan of
Carolina, Chapel Hill; Naomi Schlesinger, MD, Robert
care is developed for management of both the immune
Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ;
deficiency and any complicating autoimmune or
Leslie Crofford, MD, Vanderbilt University, Nashville;
rheumatic features.
Terry Moore, MD, St. Louis University; Lindsey
Consultations for patients can be arranged by
Criswell, University of California, San Francisco; and
contacting the UAB MIST Operator at 800.UAB.MIST
William Koopman, MD, former UAB division director
or emailing wchatham@uab.edu.
and Distinguished Professor and Chairman Emeritus
of the UAB Department of Medicine. Koopman was a
UAB is one of few medical centers with three program
Charleston; University of California San Francisco; and
grants from NIAMS: the Rheumatic Diseases Core Center,
Vanderbilt Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center,
UAB Well-Represented at ACR Annual Meeting
member of the American College of Rheumatology’s
Nashville.
Faculty, staff, and trainees of the UAB Division of
Blue Ribbon Panel on Academic Rheumatology, which
Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology; the Center of
Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology contributed
issued a report on the challenges and the opportunities
Research Translation in Gout and Hyperuricemia, directed
substantially to the success of the ACR national meeting
that confront academic rheumatology.
led by PI John Mountz, MD, PhD, professor, Division of
F e at ur e d c l i n ica l T R I A Ls
Safety and Effectiveness Study of the Live Zoster Vaccine
in Anti-TNF Users (VERVE). A pilot study of the safety and
effectiveness of the live zoster vaccine in anti-TNF users.
Principal investigator Jeffrey Curtis, MD, MS, MPH,
associate professor and inaugural holder of the William J.
Koopman Endowed Professorship in the UAB Division of
Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, was awarded a
Clinical Research Grant from the Rheumatology Research
Foundation. This clinical trial will examine the use of the
vaccine for shingles (herpes zoster) in patients using
the category of immunosuppressive drugs called TNF
inhibitors. NCT01967316. PI: Jeffrey Curtis, MD. Contact:
Anita Turner, 205.934.7727.
A Phase 4, Multi-Center, Randomized, Open-Label Study
to Evaluate the Effect of BENLYSTATM (belimumab;
HGS1006) on Vaccine Responses in Subjects with
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). The objective
is to assess the impact of belimumab on immune
response to pneumococcal vaccine in subjects with
SLE. Patients must have active autoantibody positive
SLE and be receiving standard SLE therapy at screening.
NCT01597492. PI: Winn Chatham, MD. Contact: Cheryl
Hardin, RN, 205.934.2981.
Multicenter, Randomized, Active-Control, Phase 3B Study
to Evaluate the Cardiovascular Safety of Febuxostat and
Allopurinol in Subjects with Gout and Cardiovascular
Comorbidities. A 5-year trial evaluating safety and CV
outcomes in gout patients over the age of 50 with a CV
comorbidity. NCT01101035. PI: Kenneth Saag, MD, MSc.
Contact: Kerry Y. Renfroe, BSN, 205.934.1444.
M o r e I n f o rma t i o n : u a b m e d i c i n e . o r g / p h y s i c i a n
3