Pediatric Research: Rheumatology
Specialized Care for Children with Rheumatic and Autoimmune Diseases: Advancing Pediatric Rheumatology Through Research Stony Brook Children’s Hospital (SBCH) is home to two pediatric rheumatologists, providing specialized care for children with rheumatic and autoimmune diseases.
We are the only hospital-based pediatric rheumatology program in Suffolk County and one of just two on Long Island. Pediatric Rheumatology is such a rare specialty that there are only about 300 pediatric rheumatologists in the country.
Our pediatric rheumatologists are trained to recognize the often-subtle signs and symptoms of rheumatic disease in children and understand how these conditions can affect a child’s growth, development and everyday life. This specialized expertise is especially important because some rheumatic diseases require different and more aggressive approaches to treatment in children than in adults. Early diagnosis and appropriate intervention are essential.
We are also committed to advancing the understanding and treatment of these complex conditions through clinical research and collaboration with national research networks. By combining specialized pediatric care with access to the latest research and evolving treatment approaches, the team strives to help children achieve the best possible outcomes, minimize the risk of irreversible disease-related complications and maintain the activities and experiences that are an important part of childhood.
Explore the research interests, collaborations and selected publications of our pediatric rheumatology faculty below.
Julie Cherian, MD
Division Chief, Pediatric Rheumatology
Dr. Julie Cherian’s research focuses on improving the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of complex rheumatic and autoimmune diseases in children and adolescents. Her areas of interest include systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), autoinflammatory diseases such as PFAPA (periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and adenitis syndrome), and pediatric vasculitis. Her work also includes pediatric rheumatology education and clinical care, with an emphasis on translating research and emerging evidence into practical approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Through her research and clinical work, Dr. Cherian is committed to advancing specialized care for children with chronic rheumatic diseases and helping them achieve better long-term outcomes.
Farzana Nuruzzaman, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Dr. Farzana Nuruzzaman graduated from New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY. She completed a general pediatrics residency at Cohen Children’s Medical Center/North-Shore LIJ. She pursued further training in subspecialty fellowship in pediatric rheumatology at Hospital for Special Surgery/Weill-Cornell New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Nuruzzaman joined the division of pediatric rheumatology at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital in 2016 as a clinical assistant professor in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.
She is double board-certified in general pediatrics and pediatric rheumatology by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP). She is also an active member of the Childhood Arthritis and Research Alliance (CARRA). Her career is focused on delivering quality advanced subspecialty patient care with outpatient clinics in East Setauket as well as inpatient consultations. She serves as a pre-clinical course director for medical students and participates in the education of trainees at all levels. She also participates in several collaborative clinical research projects and has authored numerous publications on topics ranging from chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis to systemic lupus erythematosus and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
- Julie Cherian, MD: Co-investigator; division chief of pediatric rheumatology)
- Research coordinator: Karli Pipitone
Collaborations
- Yongdong Zhao, MD, PhD (Seattle Children’s Hospital)
- Polly Ferguson, MD and T. Shawn Sato, MD (University of Iowa)
- CARE Arthritis LTD
Research
My research interests include investigating chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis (CNO), or better known by its most severe form, chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO). CNO is an autoinflammatory bone disease with unknown etiology, which causes bone pain and damage in children.
As an active member of Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA), a national collaborative research organization with the goal to prevent, treat and cure pediatric rheumatic disease, I have collaborated with other institutions to define evidence-based best treatment practices for children with CNO.
Our team is also involved in Stony Brook’s Center for Autoinflammatory Disease within the Department of Medicine as well as an international collective project to create a CNO classification criteria. Additionally, within the CRMO Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Special Interest Group, we aim to create outcome measures in CRMO with participation of international stakeholders in order to optimize further clinical research in CNO.
Representative Imaging Findings in CNO
Funding
Ongoing and recently completed funded projects:
CARRA/Arthritis Foundation Small Grant
Nuruzzaman (PI)
07/2021-present
Web-based scoring tool of MR imaging in CNO
CARRA/ Arthritis Foundation Grant
Trachtman (PI)
Nuruzzaman (site-investigator)
12/2020 - present
Differentiation between flare and infection in patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Stony Brook Department of Pediatrics Intramural Grant
Beneri (PI)
Nuruzzaman (co-investigator)
9/2017-9/2019
Assessment of the immunogenicity, safety, and clinical efficacy of an influenza vaccine booster dose strategy in patients with autoimmune diseases who are receiving immunosuppressive therapies.
Selected Publications
- Nuruzzaman F, Ferguson P, Zhao, Y. “Chronic Nonbacterial Osteomyelitis: Insights into Pathogenesis, Assessment, and Treatment.” Rheumatic Disease Clinics North America, 47(4):691-705. 2021. (PMID: 34635299).
- Zhao Y, Wu EY, Oliver MS, Cooper AM, Basiaga ML, Vora SS, Lee TC, Fox E, Amariyo G, Stern SM, Dvergsten JA, Haines KA, Rouster-Stevens KA, Onel KB, Cherian J, Hausmann JS, Miettunen P, Celluci T, Nuruzzaman F, Taneja A, Barrons KS, Hollander MC, Lapidus SK, Li SC, Ozen S, Girschick H, Laxer RM, Dedeoglu F, Hedrich CM, Ferguson PF. “Consensus Treatment Plans for Chronic Nonbacterial Osteomyelitis Refractory to Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and/or with Active Spinal Lesions.” Arthritis Care & Research. 70 (8): 1228-12337. 2018. (PMID: 29112802)
- Nuruzzaman F, Sherman Y, Ostfeld BM, Adams AB, Pan N, Barinstein LV, Lehman T, Moorthy LN. “Simple Screening Tool for Assessing Attention Deficit in Pediatric Lupus [Letter to the Editor].” Lupus. 25(4):447-8; 2016. (PMID:26637289)
- Oliver M, Jayatilleke A, Wu E, Nuruzzaman F, Aguiar C, Lenert A, Romano M, SDimonini G, Shah S, Hollander M, Alsaleem A, Fox E, Theos A, Ramanan AV, Schnabel A, Lapidus S, Tucker L, Onel K, Ozen S, Dedeoglu F, Ferguson PJ, Shea B, Akikusa J, Hedrich C, Mease P, Zhao Y. "Establishing core domain sets for Chronic Nonbacterial Osteomyelitis (CNO) and Synovitis, Acne, Pustulosis, Hyperostosis, Osteitis (SAPHO): A report from the OMERACT 2020 special interest group." Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. 51(4):957-961. 2021. (PMID: 3417664).
Abstracts
- Nuruzzaman F, Huang M, Hedrich C, Girschick H, Cherian J, Onel K, Sato T, Ferguson P, Xing, W. Zhao Y. “Perspectives of Radiologist Physicians in the Imaging of Chronic Nonbacterial Osteomyelitis.” American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting. Virtual. November 2020.
- Zhao Y, Naden R, Oliver MS, Wang Z, Wu EY, Aguiar CY, Akikusa JC, Basaran O, Cain K, Capponi M, Donaldson NJ, Fox EJ, Insalaco A, Jansson AF, Kaya Aka U, Lee T, Marrani E, Mahmood K, Murray E, Nuruzzaman F, Onel K, Pardeo M, Potts L, Rogers ND, Schnabel A, Simonin G, Soep JB, Stern S, Theos AC, Zhang Y, Ferguson PF, Hedrich CM, Dedeoglu F, Girschick H, Laxer RM, Ozen S. “Comparison of Clinical and Imaging Features Between Chronic Nonbacterial Osteomyelitis and Its Mimickers: A Multinational 450 Case-Control Study.” Lightning Talk. European Pediatric Rheumatology Congress. E-congress. September 2020.
See Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography
