Rethinking Lupus: The Emerging Role of T Cells in SLE Pathophysiology and Diagnostics

Dr. Brittany Partain, PhD, Senior Medical Science Liaison, Exagen Inc.

A biomedical engineer with more than seven years of cross-discipline research, Dr. Brittany Partain serves as Senior Medical Science Liaison at Exagen Inc., a leading provider of autoimmune testing solutions. In her role, Dr. Partain leverages her scientific and medical expertise to help Exagen achieve its goals, equipping providers with advanced testing for accurate and timely diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of autoimmune conditions, as well as improving patient outcomes.

Dr. Partain received her PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Florida, with a thesis focused on understanding the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis and mitigating inflammation in osteoarthritis.

Dr. Vasileios Kyttaris, MD, PhD, FACR, Internist and Rheumatologist, Boston, MA

Dr. Vasileios Kyttaris is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an attending rheumatologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts. He received his medical degree in 1994 from the University of Patras, Greece. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at the Washington Hospital Center in 2001.

He subsequently completed fellowships in rheumatology and autoimmune diseases in 2003 and 2004 at Washington Hospital Center and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Dr. Kyttaris is the author or co-author of more than 100 papers on lupus. He was the Principal Investigator on two studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, NFAT/AP-1 cooperation in SLE T Cells, and The Role of Interleukin 23 in Lupus.

Dr. Kyttaris is the 2016 recipient of the Mary Betty Stevens Young Investigator Prize awarded by the Lupus Foundation of America. He currently heads the Lupus Center of Excellence at BIDMC and conducts clinical and translational research in SLE.