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Call for papers - Autoimmune disorders

Guest Editors

Jiuliang Zhao, MD, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, China
Ali R. Zomorrodi, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 28 March 2025 


BMC Medicine is calling for submissions to our Collection on understanding the complex landscape of autoimmune diseases. This Collection seeks to showcase research that explores genetic and environmental factors, novel translational insights, dysregulated immune responses, and precision medicine strategies. By advancing our understanding of autoimmune disorders, this Collection aims to pave the way for personalized and effective interventions to alleviate the burden of these conditions on individuals and healthcare systems.

New Content ItemThis Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Meet the Guest Editors

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Jiuliang Zhao, MD, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, China

Jiuliang Zhao is Professor of Rheumatology and Deputy Director of Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), which has long been considered as one of the top hospitals in China. Dr Zhao’s major research interests are pathogenesis, and clinical studies for systemic lupus erythematosus and antiphospholipid syndrome. His team has established a prospective multicenter cohort Chinese SLE Treatment and Research Group (CSTAR) comprising over 5,000 lupus patients. Dr Zhao has authored 58 articles as either the first/co-first author or the corresponding author in journals such as Autoimmunity Reviews, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Rheumatology (Oxford), and RMD Open. Dr Zhao serves as Vice President of Chinese Rheumatology Association (CRA) Young Committee, and Vice President of Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) Young Rheumatologist Committee.
 

Ali R. Zomorrodi, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA

Dr Ali R. Zomorrodi is an Instructor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and the Computational and Systems Biology Lead at Massachusetts General Hospital's Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center. His laboratory investigates the metabolic crosstalk between the host and microbiome in autoimmune conditions such as Celiac Disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. By leveraging multi-omics technologies, advanced computational modeling, and AI-driven tools, he strives to better understand the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of these chronic diseases and to streamline the design of personalized treatments.

About the Collection

BMC Medicine is calling for submissions to our Collection on autoimmune disorders.

Autoimmune disorders encompass a diverse group of conditions in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own cells, leading to chronic inflammation and tissue damage. These disorders can affect multiple organs and systems including the dermatological, digestive, endocrine, neuro-muscular, rheumatic, and vascular. The complexity of autoimmune disorders lies in their heterogeneity, with over 100 recognized autoimmune diseases, each with its unique pathogenesis and clinical manifestations. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of inflammation and autoimmune disorders is crucial for developing effective diagnostic tools and targeted therapies.

By advancing our collective understanding of autoimmune disorders, we hope to discover new therapeutic targets, develop precision medicine strategies tailored to individual autoimmune conditions, and explore innovative immunomodulatory interventions. 

Topics of interest for this Collection include, but are not limited to:

  • Mechanisms of antibody and immune dysregulation
  • Inflammatory mechanisms underlying specific autoimmune diseases
  • Genetic and environmental factors influencing autoimmune disease susceptibility
  • Novel diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers for autoimmune disorders
  • Neuroinflammation and autoinflammatory disorders
  • Autoimmune diseases affecting specific systems (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes)
  • Diagnosis and classification criteria for autoimmune disorders
  • Advances in drug discovery and clinical trials testing therapeutic interventions 
  • Autoimmunity and cancer: intersections and implications
  • Impact of autoimmune disorders on quality of life and psychosocial well-being (patient and public involvement (PPI) containing lived experiences will be considered)
  • Emerging technologies and methodologies in autoimmune research
  • Effects of COVID-19 and infections on autoimmunity


This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Image credit: © jarun011 / Fotolia

  1. Sleep and physical activity (PA) are thought to be interconnected with the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the precise nature and extent of these relationships have yet to be fully quantifie...

    Authors: Jing Ni, Qiang Zhou, Shi-Ying Meng, Ting-Dong Zhou, Tian Tian and Hai-Feng Pan
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:390
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Our previous genome‑wide association studies (GWAS) have suggested rs912304 in 14q12 as a suggestive risk variant for type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, the association between this risk region and T1D subgroups ...

    Authors: Yu Qian, Shu Chen, Yan Wang, Yuyue Zhang, Jie Zhang, Liying Jiang, Hao Dai, Min Shen, Yunqiang He, Hemin Jiang, Tao Yang, Qi Fu and Kuanfeng Xu
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:357
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Pregnancy complications might lead to the development of autoimmune diseases in women. This review aims to summarise studies evaluating the association between pregnancy complications and the development of au...

    Authors: Megha Singh, Fathima Fazla Ahamed Fayaz, Jingya Wang, Steven Wambua, Anuradha Subramanian, John A. Reynolds, Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar and Francesca Crowe
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:339
    Content type: Review Published on:

  4. The increasing incidence of coeliac disease is leading to a growing interest in active search for associated factors, even the intrauterine and early life. The exposome approach to disease encompasses a life c...

    Authors: María de Lourdes Moreno, María González-Rovira, Cristina Martínez-Pancorbo, María Martín-Cameán, Ana María Nájar-Moyano, Mercedes Romero, Esther de la Hoz, Cristina López-Beltrán, Encarnación Mellado, José Luis Bartha, Petter Brodin, Alfonso Rodríguez-Herrera, José Antonio Sainz-Bueno and Carolina Sousa
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:295
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. IMCY-0098, a synthetic peptide developed to halt disease progression via elimination of key immune cells in the autoimmune cascade, has shown a promising safety profile for the treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1...

    Authors: Jean Van Rampelbergh, Peter Achenbach, Richard David Leslie, Martin Kindermans, Frédéric Parmentier, Vincent Carlier, Nicolas Bovy, Luc Vanderelst, Marcelle Van Mechelen, Pierre Vandepapelière and Christian Boitard
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:259
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  6. To study the shared genetic structure between autoimmune diseases and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and identify the shared risk loci and genes and genetic mechanisms involved.

    Authors: Xinghao Yu, Yiyin Chen, Jia Chen, Yi Fan, Huimin Lu, Depei Wu and Yang Xu
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:161
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  7. Despite substantial research revealing that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have excessive morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease (CVD), the mechanism underlying this association has not bee...

    Authors: Xiaohui Sun, Yu Qian, Weiqiu Cheng, Ding Ye, Bin Liu, Dan Zhou, Chengping Wen, Ole A. Andreassen and Yingying Mao
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:152
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  8. Paxlovid has been shown to be effective in reducing mortality and hospitalization rates in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is not known whether Paxlovid can reduce the risk of cardiovascu...

    Authors: Weijie Wang, Yu-Hsun Wang, Ching-Hua Huang, Tsung-Hsueh Hsieh, Gema Hernández Ibarburu and James Cheng-Chung Wei
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:117
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  9. Previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggested that gut microbiota-based therapies may be effective in treating autoimmune diseases, but a systematic summary is lacking.

    Authors: Liuting Zeng, Kailin Yang, Qi He, Xiaofei Zhu, Zhiyong Long, Yang Wu, Junpeng Chen, Yuwei Li, Jinsong Zeng, Ge Cui, Wang Xiang, Wensa Hao and Lingyun Sun
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:110
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  10. There is a high prevalence of autoimmune conditions in women specially in the reproductive years; thus, the association with adverse pregnancy outcomes has been widely studied. However, few autoimmune conditio...

    Authors: Megha Singh, Steven Wambua, Siang Ing Lee, Kelvin Okoth, Zhaonan Wang, Fathima Fazla Ahamed Fayaz, Kelly-Ann Eastwood, Catherine Nelson-Piercy, John A. Reynolds, Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar and Francesca Crowe
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:94
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  11. This study investigates the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and glycemic control in individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using flash glucose monitoring (FGM) devices within a public health sys...

    Authors: Fernando Sebastian-Valles, Julia Martínez-Alfonso, Jose Alfonso Arranz Martin, Jessica Jiménez-Díaz, Iñigo Hernando Alday, Victor Navas-Moreno, Teresa Armenta Joya, Maria del Mar Fandiño García, Gisela Liz Román Gómez, Jon Garai Hierro, Luis Eduardo Lander Lobariñas, Purificación Martínez de Icaya, Miguel Antonio Sampedro-Nuñez, Vicente Martínez-Vizcaíno and Mónica Marazuela
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2024 22:37
    Content type: Research article Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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BMC Medicine encourages submissions of front matter articles and original research, including clinical trials (phase I-III, randomized-controlled, either positive or negative trials), epidemiological studies (retrospective or prospective), systematic reviews and meta-analyses, -omics, medical imaging, genomics studies and biomarkers research. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines.

Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection; please select "Regenerative medicine" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.