Leadership

The ORDRCC is led by Judith James, MD PhD (Principle Investigator) and Joel Guthridge, PhD. (Associate Director).  Eliza Chakravarty, MD serves as the Director of the Clinical Characterization & Biorepository Core (CCBC).  Dr. Guthridge is the Director of the Human Phenotyping Core (HPC).

Dr. James has published >300 peer-reviewed publications on the early events in preclinical autoimmunity and transition to clinical disease; human humoral responses to autoantigens; genetic, environmental, and serologic predictors of autoimmune disease development; and mechanisms of disease flare. She has led or served in over 25 clinical trials, including both NIH-funded and other investigator-initiated trials. The long-term goal of these collaborative efforts is to provide knowledge and resources for natural history studies, prevention, prognostic biomarkers and new therapeutic development in rheumatic diseases.

Dr. Guthridge brings extensive leadership experience through developing and directing several core facilities, including the OMRF Biorepository, as well as serving as the Director of Translational Informatics. In these roles, he has developed, refined, and implemented cutting-edge technologies and methodologies for basic and translational research in the rheumatic diseases. His research focuses on designing and analyzing high-throughput/high content data from genetic, genomic, cellular, and proteomic analyses to support precision medicine.

Dr. Chakravarty is a board-certified rheumatologist, clinical epidemiologist, and outcomes scientist. Her research focuses on improving outcomes in autoimmune disease pregnancies. As the principal investigator for more than 20 clinical trials of novel therapies in systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, she has extensive experience in recruiting subjects, overseeing subject visits and sample collection, and designing and using datasets for mechanistic and translational studies.

Three Internal Advisors provide senior leadership to help recognize emerging strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for the ORDRCC, to provide scientific expertise, and to identify promising investigators for additional support as ORDRCC Scholars or Junior Center Investigators. The External Advisors provide expertise and insight to ensure that the ORDRCC provides critical resources to impact the forefront of rheumatic disease research.

Contacts:

Judith A. James, MD, PhD (Director)
Email: Judith-James@omrf.org

Joel M. Guthridge, PhD (Associate Director)
Email: Joel-Guthridge@omrf.org

Mary Flynn (Administrative Contact)
Email: Mary-Flynn@omrf.org
Phone: 405 271-7061