Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Project

The SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) Project, with funding from an NIH R21 grant, focuses on addressing the need to reduce the time it takes to identify patients with SLE. SLE is a difficult to diagnose chronic autoimmune disease affecting more than 200,000 Americans each year. When diagnosed early, SLE treatment can begin sooner and candidates for clinical trials can be identified earlier.

The interdisciplinary project will create a series of algorithms that pinpoint patients with SLE and assess the makeup of the SLE patient population. The team will use electronic health record (EHR) data from multiple health care institutions not only to identify patients, but to cluster similar sub-groups to align these SLE patients with clinical trials and targeted therapy in a timelier fashion.

Co-Principal Investigators:
Theresa Walunas, PhD (CHIP)
Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, DrPH (Solovy Arthritis Research Society Professor in Rheumatology at Medicine at Northwestern University)

Collaborator:
Abel Kho, MD, MS (CHIP)