Peter K. Gregersen

Biography

Originally trained as a rheumatologist, Peter K. Gregersen, MD, has been working in the area of genetics for over two decades and led several major international consortia to study the genetics of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, myasthenia gravis, myositis and other autoimmune disorders. Last year, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences presented Dr. Gregersen with the Crafoord prize for his genetic research in rheumatoid arthritis. The prestigious Crafoord prize is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish Industrialist. The prize was presented in Stockholm by the king of Sweden on May 2, 2013. In addition, he has spearheaded the development of a robotic biorepository and informatics resources to support these studies, including a large normal control registry with a view toward understanding genotype-phenotype relationships in both normal and disease populations. He has longstanding interests related to the genetics of absolute pitch and synesthesia, as well as studies of immunological aspects of autism.

Research Interest

Dr. Gregersen’s ongoing studies in the laboratory include international collaborative efforts to achieve a comprehensive description of the genetics of autoimmune diseases, with a particular focus on rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. At least 46 genetic regions have been identified for rheumatoid arthritis, but it is likely that many more remain to be discovered. In addition, Dr. Gregersen is pursuing functional studies of a number of newly defined risk genes for autoimmunity, particularly genes that regulate the thresholds for activation of the immune system. Several of these genes for autoimmunity are potential targets of new drugs that may be able to modify activation thresholds, in order to either enhance or reduce aspects of the immune response.