NIEHS at the Clinical Center

The physicians, nurses, scientists and staff of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/)) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH (http://www.nih.gov/)) welcome you to our patient recruitment and information Web site. We conduct research studies with patients who have autoimmune diseases. Our studies are performed at the NIH Clinical Center (CC (http://www.cc.nih.gov/)) , a hospital dedicated to the highest quality research, in Bethesda, Maryland (picture right). In some cases, subjects may be enrolled by their local health care providers.

Adult and Pediatric Subjects are being recruited for studies on:

• Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies (adult and juvenile)
  • Dermatomyositis
  • Inclusion Body Myositis
  • Polymyositis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis/Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA/JRA)
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Lupus)
• Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma)

Study information for participants (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/clinical/center/participants/index.cfm) and physicians (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/clinical/center/physicians/index.cfm).

We want to provide you with information about our research and about your disease to help you decide whether to volunteer for participation in one of our studies. If you qualify for a study, then treatment, and evaluation are FREE.

For details about the studies, choose a category above.

Mission

The mission of the Environmental Autoimmunity Group (EAG) is to understand the mechanisms for the development of autoimmune diseases so that we can extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability. Our group conducts a broad program of clinical and basic investigation in the area of adult and pediatric autoimmune diseases. The EAG uses multidisciplinary approaches to understand the roles of genetic and environmental risk factors for these diseases. We are currently focusing investigations on the Systemic Rheumatic Diseases. These diseases include Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma) and the Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies (Dermatomyositis, Polymyositis, Inclusion Body Myositis and related Myositis Syndromes). These diseases are heterogeneous groups of disorders defined by chronic inflammation, as prototypic autoimmune diseases. Our studies include epidemiologic surveys, molecular genetic studies and clinical investigations in disease pathogenesis, as well as the development of clinical tools for assessment of innovative therapies.

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