# Linking Disease Mechanisms and Outcomes in Rheumatic Diseases

> **NIH NIH K24** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $134,997

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Mentorship has been identified as a critical facilitator for development of clinical research faculty. This K24
application seeks to provide protected time for the applicant to continue to mentor numerous trainees in patient-
oriented research (POR) and to grow her current program in new directions to further expand opportunities to
mentor in this arena. 30% of the applicant's effort will be protected by this award for these activities. The applicant
has demonstrated significant abilities in mentoring trainees at all career stages and will continue to benefit from
the rich and robust institutional environment that provides stellar research infrastructure and a large pool of
patients and mentees to work with.
During the funding period, further development of the applicant will include 1) Improvement in mentorship skills
in POR; 2) Enhancement of biostatistics for POR; and 3) Construction of a collaborative niche for POR in pain
in rheumatic disease. These skillsets will be achieved through a combination of seminars, meetings, courses,
and collaboration with the U of M Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center and the U of M Fibromyalgia Center
of Research Translation (CORT). In addition, these skillsets will integrate and grow through continued
mentorship of trainees within currently funded POR and through expansion into pain research through the K24
mechanism. These research opportunities include: work that examines the biology of lupus skin in the context
of patient presentation and disease phenotype (Project 1); A clinical trial examining the impact of microbial
colonization on lupus skin inflammation (Project 2); A large, novel immunophenotyped cohort of lupus and
psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis patients that provides large scale datasets for analysis and clinical correlation (Project
3) and; A new dataset collected to longitudinally map chronic pain and sensory sensitivity in patients with
systemic lupus (Project 4). Successful completion of this award will result in successful mentoring of current and
future mentees in POR and also enlarge the POR program of the applicant to ensure continued mentoring
opportunities into the future.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10877823
- **Project number:** 5K24AR076975-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Joanne Michelle Kahlenberg
- **Activity code:** K24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $134,997
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-07-06 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10877823

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10877823, Linking Disease Mechanisms and Outcomes in Rheumatic Diseases (5K24AR076975-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10877823. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*