SUMMARY
Elena K. Joerns, M.D., M.P.H., specializes in autoimmune interstitial lung disease, with an emphasis on interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features and interstitial lung disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features is a poorly understood condition with an unclear cause, pathogenesis, and prognosis that make management decisions challenging. Rheumatoid arthritis with interstitial lung disease consists of variable clinical types, some of which present with progressive phenotypes and high mortality.
Dr. Joerns strives to understand what factors determine lung condition progression and response to therapy in interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features and rheumatoid arthritis with interstitial lung disease. Her ultimate goals are to determine the best management approach and develop targeted therapies to treat these conditions.
Focus areas
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Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features. Dr. Joerns studies the prevalence, incidence, and outcomes of interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features in a population-based cohort leveraging the resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project. Her goals are to identify factors affecting outcomes in interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features to ultimately improve prognostication, management, and healthcare use planning for patients affected by this disease.
Dr. Joerns studies the genetic differences between interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features and other types of interstitial lung disease such as those associated with rheumatic diseases as well as those with no known cause. Her findings may allow researchers to refine the classification of interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features and identify people with autoimmunity who would benefit from immunosuppression.
Dr. Joerns established an ongoing biorepository of interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features and rheumatic disease-associated interstitial lung disease. Her goal is to identify metabolomic, proteomic, and transcriptomic differences among these conditions to further understand their pathogenesis.
Dr. Joerns' ultimate goal is to assign interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features into distinct clusters. Some of these clusters will be similar to specific rheumatic conditions, and some will be similar to idiopathic noninflammatory forms of interstitial lung disease, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. This categorization would allow healthcare professionals to make informed treatment decisions for a condition with no current treatment guidelines.
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Rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease. Dr. Joerns is supported by the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging to investigate the role of senescence in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease in collaboration with pulmonologists, radiologists, and geriatrics scientists.
Dr. Joerns seeks to correlate biomarkers of senescence to the degree of interstitial lung disease involvement as quantified by Computer-Aided Lung Informatics for Pathology Evaluation and Ratings, a validated, highly sensitive, and specific method of objectively quantifying the type and extent of lung damage.
Dr. Joerns leverages the resources of the Mayo Clinic Biobank to quantify the levels of senescence biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis and specifically in rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease. She compares the differences in the plasma expression of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype to investigate the role of senescence in the pathogenesis of the condition.
Significance to patient care
Autoimmune-related interstitial lung disease is a type of lung inflammation caused by an overactive immune system. It sometimes occurs due to a known rheumatic condition such as rheumatoid arthritis. Other times, a defined autoimmune condition is not present but affected individuals have features of autoimmunity. This type of lung illness is called interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features.
These conditions may be hard to treat because they can be heterogeneous and may not respond to standard treatment. Dr. Joerns strives to understand exactly what causes these lung illnesses so that healthcare professionals can create better treatments. This may lead to an improved quality of life in patients with these conditions, fewer respiratory symptoms and prolonged lives.
Professional highlights
- Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging:
- Kogod Scholars Program, 2024-present.
- Kogod Scholars Program award for association between senescence biomarkers and extent of interstitial lung disease, 2024.
- Member, literature review, American College of Rheumatology and American College of Chest Physicians systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease-interstitial lung disease guidelines development group, 2022-2024.
- Principal investigator, Improving Pneumococcal Vaccination Rates Among Immunosuppressed Adults in an Academic Rheumatology Clinic utilizing a Nurse Driven Protocol, funded by Pfizer Inc., 2019-2022.
- Chair, Yale Internal Medicine Wellness Committee, 2016-2017.