The Rheumatology Section is very active in clinical research funded by National Institutes of Health, pharmaceutical industry and institutional support. The spectrum of these projects is wide, ranging from epidemiological, translational and outcome studies of autoimmune disorders to clinical trials with biological agents. Major areas of investigative interest focus on systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Molecular biology technology and analyses are being used to map susceptibility genes to these autoimmune disorders and to identify biomarkers of disease activity, disease damage and outcome. Several other clinical research projects are underway. Most of our research projects are performed in the Puerto Rico Clincal and Translational Research Corsortium which have state-of-the-art facilities to conduct these studies.