# Screening Chest CT to Detect Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis

> **NIH NIH K23** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2022 · $138,930

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Candidate: Dr. Bernstein is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Columbia
University. She is a clinical investigator with 12 total and 7 first-author original research publications, previous
funding from the Arthritis Foundation and a KL2, and current funding from the Rheumatology Research
Foundation. She has a Master’s Degree in Clinical and Translational Investigation. Her long-term career goal is
to become an independent investigator in rheumatology who leads both clinical and epidemiological
investigations of early interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc), and who develops and tests
interventions for the prevention of ILD in SSc. Career Development Plan: Dr. Bernstein and her mentors have
crafted a career development plan intended to lead to independence by the end of the K23 award period,
including training in advanced epidemiological methods and statistical modeling, qualitative and quantitative lung
imaging, and clinical trials and multicenter studies. These new skills and knowledge will allow Dr. Bernstein to
pursue a career as an independent clinical and epidemiologic investigator focused on prevention of ILD in SSc,
and to submit a competitive R01 application during the fourth year of the K23. Environment: Dr. Bernstein has
the protected time, facilities, resources, and expert support of the Department of Medicine to accomplish the
mentored research and career development activities outlined in the K23. The Department of Medicine and
Division of Rheumatology have guaranteed at least 75% protected time to devote to research and career
development. She has regular opportunities for intellectual interactions with other investigators, including the
opportunity to attend and present at a large number of recurring conferences and seminars relevant to her area
of research. She will also engage in relevant coursework at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public
Health. Research: Under the guidance of her expert mentorship team, led by Drs. David Lederer and Joan
Bathon, Dr. Bernstein will perform a two-center prospective cohort study of 220 newly referred adults with SSc
to achieve her Aims. The central hypothesis of this study is that screen-detected ILD in SSc is both biologically
and clinically relevant, despite the absence of symptoms, because it (1) is associated with biomarkers of ILD
and (2) precedes the onset of clinical symptoms and functional limitation and may therefore represent a “window
of opportunity” for intervention. In Aim 1, Dr. Bernstein will conduct a cross-sectional study to establish the
prevalence, clinical features, and biomarker profile of screen-detected ILD in SSc. In Aim 2, she will perform a
longitudinal study to examine the progression of screen-detected ILD in SSc. Performing this K23 mentored
research and obtaining training in advanced epidemiological methods and statistical modeling, qualitative and
quantitative lung imaging, and c...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10434735
- **Project number:** 5K23AR075112-04
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Elana J. Bernstein
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $138,930
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10434735

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10434735, Screening Chest CT to Detect Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis (5K23AR075112-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10434735. Licensed CC0.

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