Rheumatoid Arthritis Research

Dr. Miriam Shelef 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.

Side photo of Dr. Miriam Shelef using a pipette in the lab

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.

  1. Define the role of citrullination and the citrullinating peptidylarginine deiminase enzymes in immunity, inflammation, and rheumatoid arthritis
  2. Use traditional methodology and cutting-edge high density array technology with innovative statistical methods in collaboration with Dr. Michael Newton to discover new autoantibody targets as well as novel features of antibody and autoantibody reactivity in rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. 

Research Team

Sirtaij Arora

Sirtaij Arora

Undergraduate Student

Graduate Student

Researcher

Research Intern

Alumni

Alumni
Ryan Adyniec

Ryan Adyniec

Past Position: Undergraduate student

Next Position: Impact Networking

Maya Amjadi

Maya Amjadi

Past Position: Graduate student (MSTP)

Next Position: Medical student, University of Wisconsin MSTP

Mandar Bawadekar, PhD

Mandar Bawadekar, PhD

Past Position: Postdoctoral fellow

Next Position: Senior scientist at Invenra

Amy Bier

Amy Bier

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

Next Position: Medical student, Stritch School of Medicine of Loyola University Chicago

Michael Denny, PhD

Michael Denny, PhD

Scientist

Tobias Donlon

Tobias Donlon

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

Next Position: Medical student, University of Minnesota Medical School

Lauren Fahmy

Lauren Fahmy

Past Position: Undergraduate student

Next Position: Medical student at Columbia University, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Christopher Glover

Christopher Glover

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

Next Position: Medical student, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Srishti Gupta

Srishti Gupta

Past Position: Undergraduate student

Next Position: Associate clinical research coordinator at Rush University

Caitlyn Holmes

Caitlyn Holmes

Past Position: Graduate student

Next Position: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Michigan

Aisha Mergaert

Aisha Mergaert

Past Position: Graduate student

Next Position: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Wisconsin

Maxwell Parker

Maxwell Parker

Past Position: Research assistant

Next Position: JangoBio

Chloe Peyton

Chloe Peyton

Past Position: Undergraduate student

Next Position: Medical student, University of Minnesota Medical School

Nicole Rademacher

Nicole Rademacher

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

Next Position: Medical student at Medical College of Wisconsin

Ryan Rebernick

Ryan Rebernick

Past Position: Undergraduate student

Next Position: MD/PhD student at the University of Michigan

Rebecca (Daeun) Shim

Rebecca (Daeun) Shim

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

Next Position: Master's student at Rush University

Zihao Zheng

Zihao Zheng

Past Position: Graduate student

Next Position: Data scientist at Google

Image

DANA Software Request

DNA Area and NETosis Analysis (DANA) is a novel ImageJ/Java-based program designed in the Shelef lab, in large part by Ryan Rebernick.

DANA provides a simple, semi-automated approach to quantify NET-like structures and DNA area for many fluorescent microscope images at once. It provides data on a per-cell, per-image, and per-sample basis. 

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.

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Publications and Patents

View a list of Dr. Shelef's publications, plus patents from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Photo of female scientist in white coat holding tray of specimens

Help Us Transform Medicine

You can help support research by making a gift to the Department of Medicine's Rheumatology Fund for Excellence.