William Robinson

Research/Lab website:   Robinson Lab

Overview

Autoimmune diseases affect 3% of the world population, yet the autoantigens involved in and mechanisms underlying the initiation, natural remission, and perpetuation of most autoimmune diseases remain poorly understood. The major objectives of our research are to understand the pathogenic mechanisms underlying and to develop fundamental treatments to treat autoimmune diseases.

Current therapies for autoimmune diseases utilize agents that globally suppress or alter immune function. Such therapeutics are not curative and result in only mild slowing of disease progression. Great clinical needs exist for fundamental therapies that do not cause global immune suppression. We are applying proteomic, lipidomic and genomic technologies to study the pathogenesis of and to develop specific therapies for RA and MS.

Our major research interests and activities include:

1. To develop and apply proteomic and lipidomic technologies to define the targets of the autoimmune response in RA and MS.

2. To study the molecular mechanisms of immune tolerance, including the mechanisms regulating the initiation, natural remission and progression of autoimmunity.

3. To develop methods to induce antigen-specific tolerance.

4. To investigate the role of tyrosine kinases in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease.

5. To study the biology of and to develop strategies to promote cartilage regeneration for the treatment of RA and osteoarthritis.