Lisa Barcellos, PhD, MPH

Affiliation

School of Public Health

Research Area

Public health, genetic epidemiology, human genetics, autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis, lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis

I specialize in diseases of the immune system and work to identify genetic factors that predispose people to autoimmune diseases and that modulate disease expression and clinical progression.

Most of my research to date has centered on multiple sclerosis. I and my colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco have recently initiated new studies focused on systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune conditions. I am also investigating environmental exposures, such as smoking and maternal-fetal relationships.

My research interests can be categorized into five general areas: (a) comprehensive studies of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) variation in autoimmune disease, (b) full characterization of the autoimmune-prone multiple sclerosis phenotype and associated risk factors, (c) characterization of parent-of-origin and maternal-child immunogenetic relationships in autoimmunity, (d) population-based studies of genetic, social and environmental risk factors in autoimmune disease, and (e) application of novel analytical methodology to characterize gene-gene and gene-environment relationships in autoimmunity.