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Katz discusses autoimmune diseases from a multidisciplinary perspective
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NEW YORK CITY — Stephen I. Katz, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases at the NIH, presented the keynote speech at the Interdisciplinary Autoimmune Summit and urged rheumatologists, dermatologists, gastroenterologists and other health care professionals who treat patients with autoimmune diseases to work together. He also discussed the future work of NIH research into autoimmune diseases from a multidisciplinary approach.
Katz said one of the most promising research initiatives is President Barack Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative, the development of which Katz said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, was instrumental.
“It is not just genetic. People think Francis Collins so they think it is only going to be genetic, but it is more than that. It is environmental,” Katz said about the knowledge that may be gained from the program and the study of data from more than 1 million people. “We will learn much more about autoimmune disease.”
According to Katz, the Precision Medicine Initiative will integrate research about patient-reported outcomes, responses to therapy and the use of mobile health devices, and become a “highly interactive research model” that may change the way research is conducted in the future, particularly in respect to the integration of patient feedback.
“We will begin to understand the individual differences in responses to therapy,” Katz said, adding that childhood diseases will also be studied.
“There will be [a] focus on environmental issues in children, not necessarily on autoimmune diseases, but we will learn a lot about them.”
Katz said multiple entities under the umbrella of the NIH are involved with autoimmune diseases, including branches focused on women’s health issues, as women are “disproportionately affected by autoimmune diseases,” and branches focused on children’s health issues, as well as those of racial and ethnic minorities. – by Shirley Pulawski
Reference:
Katz, S. Presented at: Interdisciplinary Autoimmune Summit 2016; April 1-3; New York City.
Disclosure: Katz reports no relevant financial disclosures.