Ormseth Lab
Michelle Ormseth, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine,
Division of Rheumatology & Immunology
Physician, Tennessee Valley Healthcare System – Nashville Campus
Research Description
Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) have a 2-3 fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and traditional risk factors don’t fully explain this risk.
Our studies seek to determine the underlying cause of the increased cardiovascular risk. Ongoing research projects include determining the effect of inflammation, specific immunomodulatory drugs and autoantibodies on various aspects of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) function in RA and SLE; using plasma microRNAs (miRNAs) as biomarkers of RA, SLE and their associated cardiovascular disease, and determining their role in modifying cardiovascular risk; and determining the impact of HDL-associated miRNAs in modifying cardiovascular risk in RA and SLE.
