Autoimmune disease imposes significant societal burden. Existing therapies are often ineffective or come with serious side effects, such as observed with long-term steroid use. Through the analysis of the UK Biobank data, we aim to identify and validate human genetic findings related to autoimmune disease risk and progression. We also aim to identify potential biologic markers that could tell us which patients may have more serious autoimmune disease and which subgroups of patients may respond better to therapies. The expected value of the proposed research is to identify, develop, and eventually make publicly available safe and efficacious medicines for autoimmune mediated diseases that have both human genetic evidence and limited predicted safety concerns. We expect the research project to take 3 years.
