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Final Program


Schedule at a Glance
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Program: Scientific Session
General Topic: Basic Science

Decoding Sjögren's Disease: Adaptive Immunity Driving Pathogenesis

Wednesday, October 29, 2025
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Central Time

    Moderator(s)

  • BW

    Blake M. Warner, PhD, MPH, DDS

    National Institutes of Health
    Bethesda, Maryland, United States

    Disclosure(s): No financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose

  • RG

    Rachael Gordon, MD, PhD (she/her/hers)

    University of Pittsburgh
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

    Disclosure(s): Novartis: Consultant (Ongoing)

    • Session Coordinator(s)

  • Teresa Tarrant, MD

    Duke University
    Durham, NC, United States

    Disclosure(s): Amgen: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing); Chiesi: Consultant (Ongoing), Grant/Research Support (Ongoing); Department of Justice: Consultant (Ongoing); X4 Pharmaceuticals: Advisor or Review Panel Member (Ongoing), Consultant (Ongoing), Grant/Research Support (Ongoing)

Sjögren’s Disease (SjD) is a systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by progressive dysfunction, inflammation, and destruction of exocrine glands in addition to extraglandular manifestations affecting the skin, lungs, renal, hematopoietic, muscular, and articular domains. Its etiology and pathophysiology are incompletely understood, but interplay between B and T immune cell subsets with fibroblasts and epithelial cells is believed to be critical to disease. The goals of this session are to better inform how dysregulated immune cell interactions affect disease pathogenesis. New findings regarding B and T cell subsets will be discussed in addition to their effects within local microenvironment of affected tissues.

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify the role of specific cell subtypes within tertiary lymphoid structures in Sjögren's disease
  • Recall the current understanding of the clinical findings and pathologic mechanisms in Sjögren's disease
  • Distinguish individual role of T helper cell subsets in Sjögrens disease

Presentations:

  • 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM Central Time
    Regulatory T Cells and IFN-γ-Producing Th1 Cells Play a Critical role in the Pathogenesis of Sjögren's Disease

    Speaker: Stefan Feske, MD – NYU Langone Health

  • 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM Central Time
    What Causes Acinar Cell Dysfunction in Sjögren’s Disease? A Narrative Involving Fibroblast-mediated, Antigen-independent Activation of Tissue-resident CD8+ T-cells

    Speaker: Sarah Pringle, PhD (she/her/hers) – University Medical Center Groningen