Director, PI: Peter A. Nigrovic, M.D.
Dr. Nigrovic is chief of the Division of Immunology at Boston Children’s Hospital and a pediatric and adult rheumatologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, directing arthritis biorepositories at both institutions. He founded and directs the Center for Adults with Pediatric Rheumatic Illness (CAPRI) at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Nigrovic serves as Deputy Editor of Arthritis & Rheumatology and on the research executive committee of the US/Canadian pediatric research collaborative CARRA (the Childhood Arthritis & Rheumatology Research Alliance), the scientific advisory board of Arthritis National Research Foundation, and the Committee on Research for the American College of Rheumatology. He is the founding co-chair of AMIGO, the American College of Rheumatology’s inter-institutional mentoring program in pediatric rheumatology. Dr. Nigrovic’s research focuses on understanding mechanisms of inflammatory arthritis, using both human samples and mouse models. He is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Dr. Nigrovic received his Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College and his medical degree at Harvard Medical School. He completed med/peds residency in the Harvard combined program and med/peds rheumatology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Associate Director, Multi-PI: Jeffrey A. Sparks, M.D., M.M.Sc.
Dr. Sparks is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a clinical researcher and rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Sparks is a population scientist with an overall focus on using patient-oriented and epidemiologic research studies to evaluate the etiology, outcomes, and public health burden of rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Dr. Sparks’ research focuses on using patient-oriented and epidemiologic methods to evaluate the etiology, outcomes, and public health burden of rheumatic diseases. His research themes include: 1) RA risk and outcomes, particularly related to pulmonary disease, 2) rheumatic diseases and infection outcomes, and 3) rheumatic immune-related adverse events from immunotherapy for cancer treatment. He is Director of Immuno-Oncology and Autoimmunity and Associate Fellowship Program Director in the Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Council for the Rheumatology Research Foundation and the Collaborative Initiatives Committee of the ACR. He previously served as chair of the Early Investigator Subcommittee of the American College of Rheumatology and co-founded the mentoring program CARMA. He has received awards from the American College of Rheumatology, European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology, Rheumatology Research Foundation, and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Dr. Sparks received his Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Arkansas and medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He completed his Masters of Medical Sciences degree in translational and patient-oriented research at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sparks completed his residency in internal medicine at Washington University in St. Louis and his fellowship in rheumatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Associate Director: Elizabeth Karlson, M.D.
Dr. Karlson is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a rheumatologist and epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is co-Director of the Mass General Brigham Biobank, co-Principal Investigator of the All of Us Research Program, for the New England Precision Medicine Consortium and co-Principal Investigator of the eMERGE (electronic Medical Records and Genomics Consortium) Clinical Center. She serves as Director of the Rheumatic Disease Epidemiology Research Program for the Section of Clinical Sciences, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Karlson’s research interests are in rheumatic disease epidemiology and outcomes, genetics, gene-environment interactions, and bioinformatics analysis of electronic health records for clinical and translational research. She is funded by the National Institutes of Health for translational epidemiology, electronic health record and bioinformatics research studies as well as Human Biosample Research Cores. She leads recruitment for the Mass General Brigham Biobank that aims to collect samples, family history, lifestyle and environmental survey data linked with comprehensive health information from electronic health records from 200,000 Mass General Brigham patients. She coordinates bioinformatics analyses for phenotype algorithms for the Biobank Portal and eMERGE network. She has served on grant review committees for the National Institutes of Health, Arthritis Foundation, and national grant agencies in Canada and Europe. She has served on the American College of Rheumatology Blue Ribbon Panel on Academic Rheumatology. She has received the Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award, the Excellence in Investigative Mentoring Award from the American College of Rheumatology, and the Senior Faculty Mentoring Award from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Chair of JBC Executive Committee: Michael B. Brenner, M.D.
Dr. Brenner was previously chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Elizabeth Fay Brigham Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Brenner’s research has made a number of significant discoveries in the fields of antigen presentation as well as autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Dr. Brenner received his Bachelor of Science from Washington University in St. Louis and his medical degree at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Vanderbilt University Hospital and his fellowship in rheumatology at University of California Los Angeles.
Program Coordinator: Anupama Singh, B.Sc.
Anu serves as a Program Coordinator for the Joint Biology Consortium. She is originally from Nepal and received her Bachelor degree in Computer Information Systems at Bellevue University, Nebraska. She joined the JBC as Program Coordinator in July 2019.
Chair: Ellen Gravallese M.D.
Dr. Gravallese is chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Theodore B. Bayles Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In 2019-2020, she served as President of the American College of Rheumatology. Previously chief of the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Massachusetts, Dr. Gravallese is board certified in both rheumatology and pathology and is an internationally-renowned expert on the effects of inflammation on bone in rheumatic diseases. Her laboratory played a pivotal role in identifying the contribution of RANK/RANKL interactions in osteoclast-mediated joint injury in murine and human systems, among other contributions. Dr. Gravallese received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College and her medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. She completed a joint residency in internal medicine and pathology, followed by rheumatology fellowship, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a postdoctoral research fellowship in immunology with Dr. Laurie Glimcher.
JBC member: Daniel H. Solomon, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Solomon is Chief of the Section of Clinical Sciences in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy and Matthew H. Liang Distinguished Chair in Arthritis and Population Health at BWH and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has extensive experience in the conduct of clinical and translational research, is a co-investigator of BRASS as well as other RA registries, such as CORRONA and is a senior mentor of multiple junior and established investigators. He is PI of the JBC’s “sister P30” in clinical and epidemiological research, VERITY, NIH-P30-AR072577. Dr. Solomon received his Bachelor of Arts and medical degrees from Yale. He received his Masters in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Solomon completed his residency and fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
JBC member: Nancy Shadick, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Shadick is the Director of Translational Research Development in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy and is a founder and principal investigator of the BRASS study, one of the largest single-center cohorts of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the nation. She is a clinical researcher and epidemiologist with numerous publications in RA clinical and genetics outcomes as well as other rheumatic diseases.
Dr. Shadick received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College and her medical degree at New York University. She completed her residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital and her fellowship in rheumatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She completed her Masters in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health.
JBC member: Deepak Rao, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Rao is a faculty member of the Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity at BWH and co-Director of the BWH Human Immunology Center. His R01-funded laboratory focuses on high-dimensional and functional analyses of T cells in blood and tissue samples from patients with RA, SLE, GCA and other rheumatic diseases. He coordinates the PROSET-HD study and is integrally involved in translational research across BWH and BCH. He previously received the 2014 American College of Rheumatology Distinguished Fellow Award and the 2016 Tobe and Stephen E. Malawista Endowment from the Rheumatology Research Foundation.
JBC member: Rachael Clark, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Clark is a dermatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Shing-Yiu Yip and Cecilia M. Hepp Associate Professor of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School. She is PI of the JBC’s “sister P30” entitled the Human Skin Disease Resource Center , NIH-P30-AR069625. Dr. Clark received her Bachelor of Science from California Institute of Technology and her medical and doctoral degrees from Harvard Medical School. She completed her combined dermatology residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Director: Jeffrey A. Sparks, M.D., M.M.Sc.
Dr. Sparks is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a clinical researcher and rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Sparks is a population scientist with an overall focus on using patient-oriented and epidemiologic research studies to evaluate the etiology, outcomes, and public health burden of rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). He performs studies to evaluate the genetic, environmental, serologic, and familial risk factors for RA, clinical trials for RA prevention, RA outcomes research focusing on the respiratory burden of RA, and evaluates metabolic factors such as weight loss for RA outcomes. He is the chair of the Early Investigator Subcommittee of the American College of Rheumatology and co-founded the adult mentoring program CARMA. He has received awards from the American College of Rheumatology, Rheumatology Research Foundation, and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Dr. Sparks received his Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Arkansas and medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He completed his Masters of Medical Sciences degree in translational and patient-oriented research at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sparks completed his residency in internal medicine at Washington University in St. Louis and his fellowship in rheumatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Associate Director: Lauren Henderson, M.D., M.M.Sc.
Dr. Henderson is an Attending Physician in Rheumatology at Boston Children’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, where she is principal investigator of a laboratory focused on juvenile idiopathic arthritis. She oversees the daily operations of the New-onset JIA Registry and the Rheumatic Diseases of Childhood Biorepository at Boston Children’s Hospital. In addition, she leads translational research within the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) as chair of the Translational Research and Technology Committee. Dr. Henderson received her Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University and her medical and Masters degrees from Harvard Medical School. She completed pediatrics residency and rheumatology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Director: James Lederer, Ph.D.
Dr. Lederer is Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where his studies have focused on the immunology of trauma and shock in mice and humans. He is founder and director of the Harvard Medical Area CyTOF Consortium, with particular expertise in the processing and analysis of joint tissues as CyTOF lead for the NIH’s Accelerated Medicines Partnership (AMP) in arthritis research. In particular, he developed and validated much of the cell processing methods for blood and tissue cells to be used for the AMP research program. Dr. Lederer received his B.Sc and Ph.D. at University of Wisconsin-Madison and his research fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Associate Director: Kevin S. Wei, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Wei is a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where is principal investigator of a laboratory focused on RA. He is the Scientific Co-Director of the BWH Single Cell Genomics Core. He serves on the advisory board for STAR Protocols. Dr. Wei’s research focuses on identifying novel cellular and molecular therapeutic targets in inflammatory diseases using single-cell technologies. He is a member of the NIH’s Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP-RA/SLE) consortium where he leads implementation of single-cell technologies on RA joint tissues. He has received awards from the Rheumatology Research Foundation, Harvard Catalyst, and BWH Department of Medicine. Dr. Wei received his Bachelor of Science in biology from Duke University and his medical as well as doctoral degrees from Stanford University School of Medicine. He completed internal medicine residency followed by rheumatology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Associate Director: Peter A. Nigrovic, M.D.
Dr. Nigrovic is chief of the Division of Immunology at Boston Children’s Hospital and a pediatric and adult rheumatologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, directing arthritis biorepositories at both institutions. He founded and directs the Center for Adults with Pediatric Rheumatic Illness (CAPRI) at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Nigrovic serves as Deputy Editor of Arthritis & Rheumatology and on the research executive committee of the US/Canadian pediatric research collaborative CARRA (the Childhood Arthritis & Rheumatology Research Alliance), the scientific advisory board of Arthritis National Research Foundation, and the Committee on Research for the American College of Rheumatology. He is the founding co-chair of AMIGO, the American College of Rheumatology’s inter-institutional mentoring program in pediatric rheumatology. Dr. Nigrovic’s research focuses on understanding mechanisms of inflammatory arthritis, using both human samples and mouse models. He is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Dr. Nigrovic received his Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College and his medical degree at Harvard Medical School. He completed med/peds residency in the Harvard combined program and med/peds rheumatology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
