Cedars-Sinai
- Internship
Overview of Department & Mentor
The Kao Autoimmunity Institute (KAI) within the Dept of Medicine focuses on patient care and basic and clinical research in systemic autoimmunity, with a particular emphasis on scleroderma. KAI is the home of the Kao Multispecialty Scleroderma Program which generated and manages the Cedars Sinai Scleroderma Cohort (CSSC). Dr. Bottini was recruited to Cedars Sinai in 2022 as the KAI Founding Director.
Role Summary & Objectives
The project is focused on the role of the microbiome in scleroderma and is based on a collaboration between Drs. Bottini and Boin (Kao Autoimmunity Institute) and Dr. Mark Pimentel and his team at Cedars MAST. Lower gastrointestinal (GI) complication of scleroderma can severely impact quality of life and survival and their pathogenesis is not well understood. Studies have been performed focused on colonic samples trying to understand the relationship between microbiome and the risk and clinical variability of scleroderma GI complications. The MAST team is one of the very few in the world able to focus on small intestine microbiome and pathology, an area that has not been explored yet in scleroderma. The MAST team has already analyzed the small intestine microbiome and obtained biopsies from a small number of KAI scleroderma patients. The candidate will learn aspects of rheumatology clinical science and help manage recruitment of additional patients to the study, and enter data into the Cedars Sinai Scleroderma Cohort database. She will also learn elements of microbiome analysis. She is also expected to help draft a paper with a description of the study to be submitted by the end of her scholarship.
Role Activities & Timeline
All activities will be on site. The candidate will spend 40h/week performing data entry, data analysis, literature search and review and paper writing. She will meet with Dr. Bottini every two weeks and with Drs. Bottini, Boin, Pimentel and the MAST team on a monthly basis.
Months 1-2. The candidate will familiarize with current data, learn patient recruitment protocols and dataset generation and organization methods.
Months 4-16. The candidate will update clinical datasets, also project manage data generation. She will obtain training in data analysis and help analyze genomics, microbiome and pathology data.
Months 16-18. The candidate will complete data analysis and lead the preparation of a manuscript draft.
Required Education & Experience
- Must be 18 years of age or older.
- Must have a doctorate degree (MD and/or PhD).
- Must reside in the greater Los Angeles area or surrounding cities while conducting all activities related to the intern or visitor appointment.
- INTERNS: Those participating for academic credit must receive academic credit for the duration of the internship.
- VISITORS: Must be receiving funding from an eligible sponsoring institution (employer, educator, funder, etc.).
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