Jill Norris
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Public Health & Epidemiology
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, or lupus) are autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues. Neither has a cure.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Microbiology & Immunology
- Topics
rheumatoid arthritis
systemic lupus erythematosus
autoimmune disease
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Mar 2029
What they work on
- 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.
- Design a prospective EXACT network study of how the exposome, a person's lifetime environmental exposures, contributes to RA and SLE, informed by an expert summit and data harmonization across at-risk cohorts.
- Test whether lipid mediator profiles, built by principal components analysis of omega-3 and omega-6 fat products, predict progression from ACPA-positive status to RA differently by genetic risk, and whether cytokines explain the link.
- Examine whether lipid mediator profiles and their changes over time are associated with differences in DNA methylation, chemical tags on DNA, in ACPA-positive people in the TIP-RA, SERA and StopRA cohorts.
- Identify lipid mediator profiles and cytokines in sputum associated with progression to RA, to test whether the lung is a key site where inflammation fails to resolve.
More about the research
In both diseases, the immune system often goes wrong years before symptoms begin, during a 'preclinical' period. Studying people during that window can reveal what triggers disease. Because the measurements come before diagnosis, they are less likely to be a consequence of the illness itself. This research follows at-risk people over time. It asks how the environment and the body's ability to shut down inflammation shape who goes on to develop disease.
Why it matters
RA causes permanent joint damage and disability even with modern treatments, so stopping it before it starts would help many people. Identifying which combinations of lipid mediators fail to resolve inflammation in at-risk people could lay the groundwork for RA prevention studies. A planned prospective exposome study could reveal environmental exposures that raise the risk of RA and lupus.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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.
Paula Ramos
Emory University, GA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Identify DNA methylation changes in people with lupus and matched controls that are linked to adverse and protective social support, measured with validated surveys.
Brigitte Frohnert
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Public Health & Epidemiology
Establish a transdisciplinary consortium linking existing childhood autoimmune disease studies, including a landscape analysis of available resources and two multiday workshops to expand collaborations.
The school
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus: 41 labs on PI Pages, $766M a year on research, 205 research doctorates a year.
More about University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus
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