Young talents SPIDeRR project: Karina Patasova

“Broadly, I'm hopeful that research within SPIDeRR will lead to the publication of larger and more comprehensive omics datasets”

One of the young researchers within the SPIDeRR project is Dr. Karina Patasova, a Research Associate at Newcastle University, who joined the SPIDeRR project in October last year. She is part of Work Package 5, which focuses on genetics and omics data to better understand the mechanisms underlying the development of autoimmune disorders. Her research involves two main  components: supporting the development and evaluation of polygenic risk scores, and applying causal inference methods to genomic and omics datasets. 

An integrated view of autoimmune disorders 

Research within SPIDeRR integrates both clinical and molecular data, providing a more detailed view of autoimmune disorders and their various subtypes. The comprehensive dataset also includes information on comorbidities, enabling researchers to investigate whether a genetic basis may explain why some individuals with autoimmune diseases go on to develop additional health conditions. “Broadly, I'm hopeful that research within SPIDeRR will lead to the publication of larger and more comprehensive omics datasets. Ideally, we’ll also see whole-genome data — at least from the genomic cohort — integrated into our dataset,” says Patasova.

Expanding insights into autoimmune disorders through large-scale data
Upon joining the SPIDeRR project in October 2024, Patasova had already initiated a study on the causal role of senescence in autoimmune disorders, utilizing publicly available data. She explains: “By incorporating large-scale SPIDeRR datasets, we are able to expand the scope of the study — for example, by including summary data on subtypes of specific autoimmune diseases — which adds valuable detail to our analysis.to our analysis. Through this approach, we identified several novel genes that appear to play a causal role in autoimmune disorders — genes not previously linked to these conditions. These findings support the idea that patients with autoimmune disorders may experience accelerated ageing”.

Notably, some of the identified genes are also implicated in cancer, which is particularly relevant given that individuals with autoimmune diseases tend to have a higher incidence of cancer compared to the general population. According to Patasova this overlap suggests that these genes could represent promising targets for future drug research.

Overcoming challenges in applying new genetic methods
Patasova says she is excited to be learning new causal inference methods, which she hopes to first test in Newcastle and later apply more broadly within SPIDeRR. One of the main challenges she has faced so far is learning and applying these advanced methods. In the future, Patasova hopes to continue working in genetic epidemiology, with a focus on autoimmune diseases, and to identify biological markers that could be used to develop new treatments.