Dr. Taurog has been a faculty member in the Division of Rheumatic Diseases at UT Southwestern since 1986. Since joining the faculty he has served as attending physician in rheumatology and internal medicine at Parkland Hospital. From 1980 to 1986 he was a faculty member in rheumatology and internal medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
The goal of Dr. Taurog's research has been to understand the molecular basis for the association of the rheumatic disease called ankylosing spondylitis with the major histocompatibility allele HLA-B27. This MHC class I allele is found in 7% of the U.S. population, but in over 90% of individuals with ankylosing spondylitis. Of individuals with B27, it is estimated that up to 13% will develop ankylosing spondylitis or a related form of spondyloarthritis.
Dr. Taurog's efforts largely involve the study of rats transgenic for HLA-B27 and its associated light chain, beta-2-microglobulin. The rats develop a spontaneous arthritis and spondylitis that in many ways mimics the spectrum of the human spondyloarthropathies. A variety of cellular, genetic, biochemical and microbiological approaches have been used to try to understand the role of the B27 molecule in the pathogenesis of this experimental disorder.
