An Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist is one of three young physician-researchers in the nation to receive the first Abbott Scholar Award in Rheumatology.
Dr. Andrea Sestak, 35, a research assistant member in the Arthritis and Immunology Research Program at OMRF, was chosen from more than 200 applicants for the award, which provides grant support for up to three years.
An independent advisory panel of 12 clinical and research experts in rheumatology, working with a large panel of respected leaders in academic rheumatology, selected the recipients. To qualify for the award, candidates needed to demonstrate a commitment to a career in academic rheumatology, a plan for career development and commitment from their mentor and institution.
Scientists or physicians whose work has an emphasis in rheumatology study arthritis and other diseases of the joints, muscles and bones.
Candidates for the award must have agreed to commit at least 80 percent of their time to research and training. Abbott Laboratories is sponsor of the award, and announced the winners this week.
Sestak is focusing her research efforts on lupus in children.
“Scientists at OMRF have recently discovered that a gene causing susceptibility to lupus at an early age lies somewhere on chromosome 17,” Sestak said. “My work will center on pinpointing the location of this gene and other genes, so that they may be identified, and so that we may determine how these genes contribute to autoimmune disease.”
Sestak is an Edmond native and was a National Merit Scholar at Edmond Memorial High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in 1988 from Trinity University, and obtained her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1998.
She completed a residency program in pediatrics at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital from 1998-2001, and a clinical year in pediatric rheumatology at UT-Southwestern before joining the OMRF scientific staff in July.
“Andrea is an extremely talented person who had her first serious scientific experience at OMRF in the Fleming Scholar Program in 1984,” said Dr. John Harley, Member and Head of OMRF’s Arthritis and Immunology Program. “I was her mentor then, so it is a special pleasure for me now, almost 20 years later, to welcome her back to OMRF as a mature scientist.
“Andrea is a member of a small but growing number of physicians and scientists whose focus is on arthritic diseases in children,” Harley said. “It is wonderful that we can bring world class talent to the problems children have with these diseases and, at the same time, accomplish this for our local community.
“She competed for this important award with young physicians and scientists from across nation,” Harley said. “It is nice to know that we have one of the strongest candidates in the country for the work that is underway here in central Oklahoma.”
Sestak is utilizing OMRF’s Lupus Multiplex Registry and Repository to further her research. The registry storehouses, for use by researchers, genetic material from hundreds of families with a history of lupus.
“Once the gene I am studying is identified, we will work hard to find out why it is defective in lupus, and how it works in people who don’t have the disease,” Sestak said. “Hopefully then, the gene could become a target for the development of new therapies or the application of a new diagnostic tool. Its identification will certainly help us understand what is going on in these patients.”
As the Abbott Award grant specifies, Sestak will spend 80 percent of her time in research and continued training in pediatric rheumatology. She will see patients through her affiliation with the Oklahoma University College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics.
“I came here five years ago with the intent of establishing a world class pediatric rheumatology endeavor here in Oklahoma City,” said Jim Jarvis, Director of Pediatric Rheumatology at the OU medical school. “Cooperation with the outstanding research at OMRF is an essential part of building such a program, and another key obviously includes the recruitment of bright young physician-scientists. Andrea in fact was the best available person in the entirety of North America as far as I’m concerned, and we are delighted she is here.”
