Dr. Vanja Sisirak is a Research Associate in the department of Pathology at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a member of the Reizis Lab, where he studies the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease in which the the body's immune system attacks "self" rather than foreign pathogens. Although lupus is difficult to diagnose, an interesting marker of this disease is the presence of antibodies against one's own double-stranded DNA, which is among the topics discussed in this episode. For more information, visit the Reizis Lab web page.

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