University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Dr. Lafyatis investigates pathogenic mechanisms in systemic sclerosis (SSc). He has a broad background in understanding SSc, including studies of SSc murine models, innate immune pathogenesis, mesenchymal cell biology and dermal fibrosis. He currently directs a P50 Center of Research Translation and in the past directed a P30 Core Center grant. He co-organizes the biennial International Workshop for Scleroderma Research for the past 10 years and helped organize the Keystone Fibrosis meeting in 2016. His research experience spans study of murine disease models to translational human disease. He has a strong experience in molecular and cellular biology, as well as clinical trials and outcome measures. In particular he has used transcriptomic and proteomic approaches to understand human SSc, discovered and validated biomarkers of SSc skin and lung disease1, and applied these in several clinical trials2. In the last four years his laboratory has been focused on applying single cell RNA-sequencing and other single cell technologies to understanding SSc pathogenesis. His laboratory has recently applied this technology to examine dermal and lung fibroblasts and macrophage heterogeneity in systemic sclerosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis3,4. They have also applied scRNA-seq technology in several clinical trial settings.
1. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2015;67(11):3004-15
2. J Clin Invest. 2015;125(7):2795-807
3. Ann Rheum Dis. 2019;78(10):1379-87
4. Eur Respir J. 2019;54(2)
Epigenetic and Transcriptional Regulation of Myofibroblasts in Skin and Lung Fibrosis
Monday, November 13, 2023
12:00 PM – 12:15 PM PT
Disclosure(s): Advarra/GSK: Advisor or Review Panel Member (Ongoing); Bain Capital: Consultant (Terminated, September 22, 2023); Boehringer-Ingelheim: Consultant (Ongoing); Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMS): Consultant (Ongoing), Grant/Research Support (Ongoing); Certa Therapeutics: Consultant (Ongoing); Corbus: Consultant (Terminated, August 1, 2022), Grant/Research Support (Terminated, August 1, 2022); EMD Serono: Consultant (Ongoing); Formation: Consultant (Terminated, July 1, 2022), Grant/Research Support (Terminated, July 1, 2022); Genentech: Advisor or Review Panel Member (Ongoing), Consultant (Ongoing); Merck/MSD: Consultant (Ongoing); Moderna: Grant/Research Support (Terminated, January 1, 2023); Morphic: Consultant (Ongoing); Pfizer: Consultant (Terminated, April 6, 2023), Grant/Research Support (Terminated, April 6, 2023); Regeneron: Grant/Research Support (Terminated, January 1, 2023); Third Rock Venture: Consultant (Ongoing); Thirona Bio: Consultant (Ongoing), Officer or Board Member (Ongoing), Stock options or bond holdings in a for-profit corporation or self-directed pension plan (Ongoing); Zag Bio: Consultant (Ongoing)