Shelef Research

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. Discover new autoantibody targets as well as novel features of antibody and autoantibody reactivity in rheumatoid arthritis, COVID-19, systemic lupus erythematosus, and other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Alumni

Ryan Adyniec

Past Position: Undergraduate student

Next Position: Impact Networking

Maya Amjadi

Past Position: Graduate student (MSTP)

Next Position: Medical student, University of Wisconsin MSTP

Janna Bashar

Past Position: Graduate student

Next Position:

Mandar Bawadekar, PhD

Past Position: Postdoctoral fellow

Next Position: Senior scientist at Invenra

Amy Bier

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

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

Michael Denny, PhD

Scientist

Tobias Donlon

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

Next Position: Medical student, University of Minnesota Medical School

Lauren Fahmy

Past Position: Undergraduate student

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

Christopher Glover

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

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

Srishti Gupta

Past Position: Undergraduate student

Next Position: Associate clinical research coordinator at Rush University

Caitlyn Holmes

Past Position: Graduate student

Next Position: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Michigan

Aisha Mergaert

Past Position: Graduate student

Next Position: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Wisconsin

Maxwell Parker

Past Position: Research assistant

Next Position: JangoBio

Chloe Peyton

Past Position: Undergraduate student

Next Position: Medical student, University of Minnesota Medical School

Nicole Rademacher

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

Next Position: Medical student at Medical College of Wisconsin

Ryan Rebernick

Past Position: Undergraduate student

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

Rebecca (Daeun) Shim

Past Position: Study coordinator and research assistant

Next Position: Master's student at Rush University

Zihao Zheng

Past Position: Graduate student

Next Position: Data scientist at Google

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.

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.