Robert A. Lafyatis, MD
Adjunct Professor, Medicine
Biography
Dr. Lafyatis carries out patient oriented research into the cause and treatment of systemic sclerosis. This includes early phase clinical trials into new therapeutic agents in patients with systemic sclerosis. He has been investigating the mechanisms of actions and markers of response for novel therapeutics, such as the B cell depleting agent, rituximab and the immunosuppressant agent, mycophenlate. Additional studies are aimed at identifying biomarkers in systemic sclerosis using microarray gene expression analysis of skin and blood in scleroderma patients. Ongoing biomarker studies include investigation into molecular markers of pulmonary hypertension in systemic sclerosis. Dr. Lafyatis also carries out basic research into the cause of fibrosis and vasculopathy in systemic sclerosis using patient samples and murine disease models. His studies have provided key insights into one widely used model of systemic sclerosis, the tight skin mouse. His studies are currently focused on understanding how autoimmunity and the innate immune system lead to fibrosis and vascular damage. This has recently led to the discovery of increased interferon-regulated gene expression in white blood cells of patients with systemic sclerosis. Ongoing research is aimed at better understanding the cause of altered gene expression by monocytes and other cells in the innate immune system.
Other Positions
- Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Boston University
Education
- University of Cincinnati, MD
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, BS
Publications
- Published on 2/14/2025
Abraham DJ, Black CM, Denton CP, Distler JHW, Domsic R, Feghali-Bostwick C, Gourh P, Hinchcliff M, Kolling F, Kuwana M, Lafyatis R, Landegren U, Mahoney JM, Martin J, Matucci-Cerinic M, McMahan ZH, Mora AL, Mouthon L, Rabinovitch M, Rojas M, Rubin K, Trojanowska M, Varga J, Whitfield ML, Gabrielli A, Krieg T. An international perspective on the future of systemic sclerosis research. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2025 Mar; 21(3):174-187. PMID: 39953141.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/1/2025
Gaydosik AM, Tabib T, Das J, Larregina A, Lafyatis R, Fuschiotti P. Dysfunctional KLRB1+CD8+ T-cell responses are generated in chronically inflamed systemic sclerosis skin. Ann Rheum Dis. 2025 Feb 01. PMID: 39894688.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/1/2025
Hammaker K, Hu H, Laffoon M, Freno LA, Lafyatis R, Park Y, Domsic RT. Association of the Apollo Wearable With Fatigue, Raynaud Phenomenon, and Quality of Life in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis: A Pilot Study. J Rheumatol. 2025 Feb 01; 52(2):158-164. PMID: 39617410.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/24/2025
Harvey LD, Alotaibi M, Tai YY, Tang Y, Kim HJ, Kelly NJ, Sun W, Woodcock CC, Arshad S, Culley MK, El Khoury W, Xie R, Al Aaraj Y, Zhao J, Hafeez N, Rao RJ, Jiang S, Negi V, Kirillova A, Perk D, Watson AM, St Croix CM, Stolz DB, Lee JY, Cheng MH, Zhang M, Detmer S, Guzman E, Manan RS, Saggar R, Haley KJ, Waxman AB, Okawa S, Schwantes-An TH, Pauciulo MW, Wang B, Webb A, Chauvet C, Anderson DG, Nichols WC, Desai AA, Lafyatis R, Nouraie SM, Wu H, McDonald JG, Cheng S, Bahar I, Bertero T, Benza RL, Jain M, Chan SY. Lysosomal dysfunction and inflammatory sterol metabolism in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Science. 2025 Jan 24; 387(6732):eadn7277. PMID: 39847635.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/15/2025
Biedka S, Yablonska S, Peng X, Alkam D, Hartoyo M, VanEvery H, Kass DJ, Byrum SD, Xiao K, Zhang Y, Domsic RT, Lafyatis R, Ascherman DP, Minden JS. IP-to-MS: An Unbiased Workflow for Antigen Profiling. J Proteome Res. 2025 Feb 07; 24(2):795-812. PMID: 39814365.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/13/2025
Kirillova A, Sethuraman M, Dong X, Kirdar A, Speyer G, Al Aaraj Y, Watson A, Schneider LK, Creager MD, Lafyatis R, Okawa S, Kim S, Chan SY. Reversal of inflammatory reprogramming by vasodilator agents in pulmonary hypertension. ERJ Open Res. 2025 Jan; 11(1). PMID: 39811555.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/13/2024
Hukara A, Bonazza GA, Tabib T, Micheroli R, Jordan S, Bürki K, Rudnik M, Ciurea A, Distler O, Lafyatis R, Blyszczuk P, Kania G. Elevated Fcy receptor expression augments pro-inflammatory macrophage phagocytosis in systemic sclerosis and associated rheumatic diseases. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2024 Dec 13. PMID: 39672802.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/2/2024
Warunek JJ, Fan L, Zhang X, Wang S, Sanders SM, Li T, Mathews LR, Dwyer GK, Wood-Trageser MA, Traczek S, Lesniak A, Baron K, Spencer H, Bou Saba J, León Colón E, Tabib T, Lafyatis R, Ross MA, Demetris AJ, Watkins SC, Webber SA, Abou-Daya KI, Turnquist HR. Dysregulated Treg repair responses lead to chronic rejection after heart transplantation. J Clin Invest. 2024 Dec 02; 134(23). PMID: 39621314.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/1/2024
Shehabeldin M, Kobyra J, Cho Y, Gao J, Chong R, Tabib T, Lafyatis R, Little SR, Sfeir C. Local Controlled Delivery of IL-4 Decreases Inflammatory Bone Loss in a Murine Model of Periodontal Disease. J Immunol. 2024 Dec 01; 213(11):1635-1643. PMID: 39465979.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 10/28/2024
Valenzi E, Jia M, Gerges P, Fan J, Tabib T, Behara R, Zhou Y, Sembrat J, Das J, Benos PV, Singh H, Lafyatis R. Altered AP-1, RUNX and EGR chromatin dynamics drive fibrotic lung disease. bioRxiv. 2024 Oct 28. PMID: 39554071.
Read at: PubMed
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