Rheumatoid Arthritis Research
Miriam Shelef, MD, PhD, is an immunologist and a rheumatologist with a research program focused on better understanding the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis to inform the development of novel biomarkers and treatments.

Pathophysiology of Autoimmune Disease
Dr. Shelef's research aims to solve the mysteries of how and why systemic autoimmunity develops and persists in order to guide the discovery of better clinical tests and improved treatments. Her lab has two major research directions.
- Define the role of citrullination and the citrullinating peptidylarginine deiminase enzymes in immunity, inflammation, and rheumatoid arthritis
- Discover new autoantibody targets as well as novel features of antibody and autoantibody reactivity in rheumatoid arthritis, pre-clinical rheumatoid arthritis, infections, systemic lupus erythematosus, and other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Research Team

Research Intern and Study Coordinator

Researcher

Research Intern

Undergraduate Researcher

Undergraduate Researcher

Undergraduate Researcher

Undergraduate Researcher

Undergraduate Researcher

Undergraduate Researcher
Alumni
- Alumni
Ryan Adyniec
Past Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Next Position: Account Manager, Impact Networking, LLC
Current Position: Certified Flight Instructor, Wisconsin Aviation, Inc.
Maya Amjadi
Past Position: MD/PhD student
Next/Current Position: Psychiatry Resident, University of Arizona
Sirtaij Arora
Past Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Next/Current Position: Medical Student, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Janna Bashar
Past Position: PhD student
Next/Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California San Francisco
Mandar Bawadekar, PhD
Past Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Next Position: Senior Scientist, Invenra
Current Position: Director of Immunology, Eli Lilly and Company
Amy Bier
Past Position: Research Intern
Next Position: Medical Student, Stritch School of Medicine of Loyola University Chicago
Current Position: Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellow, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Michael Denny, PhD
Past Position: Scientist
Next Position: Senior Research Scientist, Rockland Immunochemicals, Inc.
Tobias Donlon
Past Position: Research Intern
Next Position: Medical Student, University of Minnesota Medical School
Current Position: Pediatric Cardiology Fellow, University of Minnesota Medical School
Lauren Fahmy
Past Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Next Position: Medical Student, Columbia University, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Current Position: Dermatology Resident, Columbia University
Christopher Glover
Past Position: Research Intern
Next Position: Medical Student, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Current Position: Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital
Srishti Gupta
Past Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Next Position: Associate Clinical Research Coordinator, Rush University
Current Position: Medical Student, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Caitlyn Holmes
Past Position: PhD Student
Next Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
Aisha Mergaert
Past Position: PhD Student
Next Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Wisconsin
Current Position: Principal Scientist, Discovery Life Sciences
Maxwell Parker
Past Position: Research Intern
Next Position: Research Specialsit, JangoBio
Current Position: PhD Student, Scripps Research
Chloe Peyton
Past Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Next Position: Medical Student, University of Minnesota Medical School
Current Position: Rheumatology Fellow, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Nicole Rademacher
Past Position: Research Intern
Next Position: Medical Student, Medical College of Wisconsin
Current Position: General Surgery Resident, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Ryan Rebernick
Past Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Next/Current Position: MD/PhD Student, University of Michigan
Daeun (Rebecca)Shim
Past Position: Undergraduate Researcher and Research Intern
Next Position: Master's Student, Rush University
Current Position: PhD Student, University of Wisconsin—Madison
Zihao Zheng
Past Position: PhD Student
Next/Current Position: Data Scientist, Google
Biorepositories
Rheumatology
The UW Rheumatology Biorepository was established in the fall of 2015 by Dr. Miriam Shelef. It is a secure, confidential repository for clinical information and biologic samples primarily from people who have rheumatologic disease, but also from people without rheumatologic disease. Currently, about 1,000 people have agreed to participate in the biorepository and have contributed samples. More people participate and contribute samples every day.
Funding Support
Dr. Shelef's research has been supported by the Rheumatology Research Foundation, the NIH NIAMS, the Wisconsin Partnership Program, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, and the University of Wisconsin.
My Green Lab Certified
The Shelef Lab is a Green Level Certified Lab for outstanding work in reducing the environmental impact of laboratory space and successful completion of the My Green Lab Certification Program.
