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Arthritis and Immunology Research Program

Michael Centola, Ph.D. Assistant Member, Arthritis and Immunology Research Program Director, OMRF Microarray Research Facility Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology,   University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Mentoring Faculty Member, Oklahoma Center for Neuroscience

Research Interests
Our lab is currently performing studies and developing methods in genomics- and proteomics-based technologies. These studies help define the molecular mechanisms that mediate human inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthropathies, and inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, we are actively developing bioinformatics methods that allow us to interpret the complex data generated in these studies, which simultaneously measure gene expression from thousands of genes under different physiological or disease states.

We collaborate with local physicians and clinical researchers to obtain patient samples from ongoing clinical research studies. From these samples we identify and measure gene and protein-based disease “biomarkers,” using broad-based screening assays. These massive data sets are then integrated with the data obtained in these clinical studies. Information gathered in our studies has refined our understanding of the etiopathology of these complex disorders and has helped in defining novel mediators that are important in a number of disease mechanisms.

A principal focus of our laboratory is to use this discovery pipeline to create a new generation of diagnostic tests. We are also using our methods to create tests that profile the patient response to new therapeutic agents at the molecular level. Each of these tests is designed to improve patient treatment by employing broad-based monitoring of disease regulators. These tests will provide detailed information to refine diagnostic methods and help identify therapeutic strategies that are tailored to an individual patient’s genetics, physiology and pathology. Our bioinformatics group works to develop novel methods to decipher these complex data sets and to present them in a form that can be used practically by clinicians.

The promise of this technology has drawn a multidisciplinary team of scientists to our lab, which includes a bioinformatics team headed by Dr. Igor Dozmorov, a database engineer, computer programmers, immunologists, cancer biologists, a biomedical engineer, physician researchers and several technical personnel. The laboratory is highly integrated, balancing technological innovation, scientific dis-covery and practical application.

Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 2000.

Mailing Address
Arthritis and Immunology Research Program, MS 58
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
825 N.E. 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104

Contact Information
Phone: (405) 271-5081
Fax: (405) 271-1339
E-mail: Mike-Centola@omrf.org