Sarah Patterson
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common rheumatic disease, affecting about 1.5 million people in the United States. The immune system attacks the joints, causing pain, loss of function and earlier death.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Psychology
Microbiology & Immunology
- Topics
rheumatoid arthritis
autoimmune disease
inflammatory arthritis
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2026
What they work on
- Determine whether greater negative psychological stress is independently associated with worse rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and symptom severity over time, using an actively enrolling longitudinal cohort of RA patients.
- Test whether stress resilience and mindfulness correlate longitudinally with less severe disease activity and symptoms, identifying mechanistic targets for mind-body interventions in RA.
- Develop augmentations to the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course specifically for people living with inflammatory arthritis.
- Conduct a pilot study assessing the feasibility and acceptability of an MBSR trial for improving disease outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis.
More about the research
Drugs that suppress the immune system reduce disease severity but often leave symptoms poorly controlled and can cause serious side effects. Psychological stress is thought to worsen autoimmune diseases, yet few studies have followed RA patients over time to test this, and it is unknown whether mindfulness training helps the disease itself.
Why it matters
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and related autoimmune conditions need options beyond immune-suppressing drugs that fall short or cause harm. This work could show whether stress is a modifiable contributor to flares and symptoms, and could support an arthritis-adapted mindfulness program as an add-on to medical management.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Camille Quinn
University of Michigan, MI·Psychology
Identify barriers to and facilitators of taking part in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) among justice-involved adolescents and caregivers, using interviews and surveys with 10 adolescent–caregiver pairs, and adapt the program accordingly.
Jill Norris
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Public Health & Epidemiology
Survey existing cohorts, registries, exposure data, exposome laboratories and analytic methods to assess what is needed to measure environmental exposures before rheumatoid arthritis and lupus begin.
Brian Cherrington
University of Wyoming, WY·Microbiology & Immunology
Identify the citrullinome, the full set of citrullinated proteins, in mouse female reproductive tract fluid across the estrous cycle, pregnancy and postpartum.
The school
University of California-San Francisco: 89 labs on PI Pages, $2.1B a year on research, 164 research doctorates a year.
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