SUMMARY
DeLisa Fairweather, Ph.D., conducts translational research on chronic inflammatory conditions, including Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and cardiovascular and autoimmune conditions. Dr. Fairweather's work focuses on improving diagnosis and developing individualized therapies.
Dr. Fairweather specializes in how sex differences in inflammation caused by environmental exposures such as viral infections can lead to chronic inflammatory disease. She is an expert on myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and heart failure. She conducts clinical research on these conditions and uses models that translate to human disease.
She also is an expert on Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and conducts research on the condition through her lab. Dr. Fairweather is co-director of research for the Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) Clinic, which she co-founded at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.
Dr. Fairweather's research has played an important role in public health.
In 2024, Dr. Fairweather published the first estimation of the prevalence of 105 autoimmune diseases by sex and age in the United States using electronic health record data. Her findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
She also was on a committee within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) that reviewed scientific literature about adverse events associated with COVID-19 vaccines. The committee's report, "Evidence Review of the Adverse Effects of COVID-19 Vaccination and Intramuscular Vaccine Administration," was published in 2024 and is used by the U.S. government, lawyers, physicians and the public.
In addition, Dr. Fairweather was a member of a committee within NASEM that examined the autoimmune disease portfolio of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The committee's report, "Enhancing NIH Research on Autoimmune Disease," was released in 2022. Dr. Fairweather presented recommendations to the NIH and Congress. Congress then directed the NIH to establish the Office of Autoimmune Disease Research (OADR) within the Office of Research on Women's Health.
Focus areas
- Myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Dr. Fairweather has been studying myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure for 30 years. She developed a novel animal model of myocarditis and DCM that closely resembles these diseases in people. This has allowed her to research ways to improve diagnosis and discover novel therapies. Dr. Fairweather conducts translational studies in people with myocarditis and DCM in collaboration with Leslie T. Cooper Jr., M.D.
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Working closely with healthcare professionals in the EDS Clinic, Dr. Fairweather uses a unique questionnaire and patient samples to discover better diagnostic criteria and novel therapies. Her work focuses on hypermobile EDS and hypermobility spectrum disorders.
- Sex differences in disease and inflammation. Dr. Fairweather has been studying sex differences in inflammation for more than 25 years. Her interests are broad, including cancer; Ehlers-Danlos syndrome; myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular conditions; and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatic autoimmune conditions.
- Extracellular vesicles as biomarkers. Dr. Fairweather has identified substances within extracellular vesicles that can both lead to disease and prevent disease. Her lab investigates these biomarkers as tools for novel therapies for several diseases and to improve personalized medicine.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Fairweather hopes to make new discoveries about chronic inflammatory conditions by better understanding their causes. Her goal is to improve diagnosis and find better treatments for a broad range of cardiovascular conditions, autoimmune conditions and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Professional highlights
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Mayo Clinic:
- Co-founder and co-director, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Clinic in Florida, 2019-present.
- Excellence Through Teamwork Award, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Clinic in Florida, 2024.
- Director, Translational Research, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine in Florida, 2015-2023.
- Team Science Award, Expanded Access Program for hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19, 2021.
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Myocarditis Foundation:
- Lifetime Service Award, 2025.
- Board member, 2011-2018.
- Fellow, Heart Failure Society of America, 2022-present.
- Fellow, American Heart Association, 2011-present.