Dr. Agarwal's laboratory is studying the mechanisms that underlie the development of autoimmune and fibrotic disease, including systemic sclerosis/scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. His laboratory is interested in the cells that mediate the fibrotic process, in particularly the interactions between fibroblasts and macrophages. His laboratory has identified increased expression of cadherin-11 in patients with scleroderma and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and demonstrated that cadherin-11 is a critical mediator of lung and skin fibrosis in mouse models. His laboratory has determined that cadherin-11 is an important regulator of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and also regulates macrophage behavior. His laboratory has continues to utilize mouse models, cellular and molecular immunology techniques and samples from patients to determine how cadherin-11 is regulating the development of fibrosis. He is currently working to translate these research findings into the care of patients with autoimmune fibrotic diseases. In addition to cadherin-11, his laboratory has identified a number of other candidate molecules involved in autoimmunity and fibrosis. Ultimately, Dr. Agarwal and his laboratory seek to understand the complex cellular and molecular interactions that lead to tissue fibrosis with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets of patients with these diseases.