Women & Science
2022 Fall Morning Lecture
New Insights into Rheumatoid Arthritis: How SelfTesting Could Revolutionize the Fight Against Autoimmune Diseases

Speaker:
Dana Orange, M.D., M.Sc.
Assistant Professor of Clinical Investigation
The Rockefeller University
Assistant Attending Rheumatologist
Hospital for Special Surgery

Host:
Sarah Schlesinger, M.D.
Senior Attending Physician, Rockefeller University Hospital
Associate Professor of Clinical Investigation
Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Signal Transduction
The Rockefeller University

More than 1.3 million people in the U.S. suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, debilitating pain, and irreversible joint damage, among other symptoms. Notably, women are twice as likely as men to develop rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune conditions. What are the factors that lead to this prevalence in women? And how can we better predict and prevent flareups in arthritis and other inflammatory disorders?

Dana Orange, M.D., M.Sc., seeks to answers these questions by focusing on the pathogenic mechanisms that cause rheumatoid arthritis. Working with Robert Darnell, M.D., Ph.D., at Rockefeller, Dr. Orange developed a novel testing system that made it possible to monitor cellular and molecular changes in rheumatoid arthritis patients in unprecedented detail. Her unique approach led to the discovery of a new cell type—called a PRIME cell—that may prove to be a reliable marker for impending rheumatoid arthritis flares, as well as a promising new therapeutic target.

Dr. Orange earned an M.D. with honors from Weill Cornell Medical College and a master’s in translational research at Rockefeller University as a Beth and Ravenel Curry Clinical Scholar. She completed an internal medicine residency at New YorkPresbyterian Hospital and a rheumatology fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

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