My research is in the pathogenesis of inflammatory joint disease, especially ankylosing spondylitis and related diseases. I am interested in how genes associated with these diseases, especially HLA-B27, influence susceptibility to disease by affecting immune responses. Current work in the laboratory  is examining factors which affect production of the cytokine IL-23, particularly the role of ER stress, since IL-23 drives IL-17 production, which appears central to joint inflammation in these diseases.