Research Group Rucsandra Dobrota
Our group mainly focuses on clinical and translational research in very early and early systemic sclerosis. We aim to better characterize the incipient disease stages and to identify early predictors of future complications. Furthermore, we are interested in the main drivers of patients’ burden in relation to the different stages and manifestations of systemic sclerosis and in implementing patient reported outcomes (PRO) in clinical practice and research. These aims follow the overarching goal to improve early risk assessment and allow the development of tailored management strategies to improve the disease outcome of persons suffering from systemic sclerosis. Further, prospective research interests are mixed connective tissue disease and Raynaud’s syndrome.
Our Projects
In this project, we perform a first, comprehensive clinical, functional and radiological characterization of interstitial lung disease in very early systemic sclerosis.
Development of a translational risk assessment framework
In this multi-centric, translational study, we aim to identify early clinical and biological predictors of meaningful organ involvement in very early and early systemic sclerosis
This project aims to identify serum protein biomarkers associated with arthritis in very early systemic sclerosis.
In this project, we use ScleroID to identify important features influencing the patient-reported disease burden. ScleroID is a specific PRO for systemic sclerosis, which we previously developed and validated as part of an international collaboration (Becker M., Dobrota R, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2022 Apr;81(4):507-515).
In this analysis, we perform an in depth analysis of the longitudinal performance of ScleroID in relation to measures of disease activity and severity, key information needed to further develop its future use in clinical research.
Selected Publications
- Muraru S, Mihai C, Elhai M, Becker M, Jordan S, Garaiman A, Bruni C, Petelytska L, Hoffmann-Vold AM, Distler O, Dobrota R. Arthritis in patients with very early systemic sclerosis: a comprehensive clinical and prognostic analysis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2025 Mar 1;64(3):1243-1250.
