Joel Taurog, MD

Professor
Endowed Title: William M. and Gay Burnett Professorship for Arthritis Research
Internal Medicine
Graduate Program: Immunology

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

joel.taurog@utsouthwestern.edu

To make an appointment, call 214-645-8300.

Biography

Dr. Taurog has been a faculty member in the Division of Rheumatic Diseases at UT Southwestern since 1986. Since joining the faculty he has served as attending physician in rheumatology and internal medicine at Parkland Hospital. From 1980 to 1986 he was a faculty member in rheumatology and internal medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The goal of Dr. Taurog's research has been to understand the molecular basis for the association of the rheumatic disease called ankylosing spondylitis with the major histocompatibility allele HLA-B27. This MHC class I allele is found in 7% of the U.S. population, but in over 90% of individuals with ankylosing spondylitis. Of individuals with B27, it is estimated that up to 13% will develop ankylosing spondylitis or a related form of spondyloarthritis. Dr. Taurog's efforts largely involve the study of rats transgenic for HLA-B27 and its associated light chain, beta-2-microglobulin. The rats develop a spontaneous arthritis and spondylitis that in many ways mimics the spectrum of the human spondyloarthropathies. A variety of cellular, genetic, biochemical and microbiological approaches have been used to try to understand the role of the B27 molecule in the pathogenesis of this experimental disorder.

Education

FellowshipNational Institutes of Health-Research, Immunology/Rheumatology (1980)
ResidencyBrigham & Women's Hospital, Int. Medicine (1976)
InternshipBrigham & Women's Hospital, Int. Medicine (1975)
Medical SchoolUT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (1974)

Research Interests

Role of HLA-B27 in Spondyloarthritis

Publications

Featured
Inflammatory disease in HLA-B27 transgenic rats

Taurog JD, et al. , Immunological Reviews , 1999; (169):209-223

Featured
Spontaneous inflammatory disease in transgenic rats expressing HLA-B27 and human beta2-m: an animal model of HLA-B27-associated human disorders

Hammer RE, Maika SD, Richardson JA, Tang J-P, Taurog JD , Cell , 1990; (63):1099-1112

Spondylarthritis in HLA-B27/human beta-2-microglobulin-transgenic rats is not prevented by lack of CD8

Taurog JD, Dorris ML, Satumtira N, Tran TM, Sharma R, Dressel R, van den Brandt J, Reichardt HM , Arthritis & Rheumatism , 2009; (60):1977-1984

Dendritic cell functional defect correlates with spondyloarthritis phenotypes in HLA-B27/human beta-2-microglobulin transgenic rat lines

Fert I, Glatigny S, Poulain C, Satumtira N, Dorris ML, Taurog JD, Breban M , Arthritis & Rheumatism , 2008; (56):3425-3429

The mystery of HLA-B27: if it isn’t one thing, it’s another (editorial)

Taurog JD , Arthritis & Rheumatism , 2007; (56):2478-81

Additional human beta-2-microglobulin curbs HLA-B27 misfolding and promotes arthritis and spondylitis without colitis in male HLA-B27-transgenic rats

Tran TM, Dorris ML, Satumtira N, Richardson JA, Hammer RE, Shang J, Taurog JD , Arthritis & Rheumatism , 2006; (54):1317-1327

HLA-B27 in transgenic rats forms disulfide-linked heavy chain oligomers and multimers that bind to the chaperone BiP

Tran T, Satumtira N, Dorris ML, May E, Wang A, Furuta E, Taurog JD , Journal of Immunology , 2004; (172):5110-5119

Honors/Awards

Glenn Clark Lectureship

University of Tennessee, Memphis (2008)

William M. & Gatha Burnett Professorship for Arthritis Research

UT Southwestern Medical Center (1997)

Kroc Lectureship

University of Michigan (1993)

Carol-Nachman Prize for Rheumatology

State Capital of Wiesbaden, Germany (1992)

Rheumatologist of the Year

Abstract Rhumato (French Journal) (1991)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Association of Immunologists

American College of Rheumatology

American Society for Clinical Investigation