Karen H. Costenbader

Karen H. Costenbader received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, a Master’s degree from Cambridge University in England, and a Master's in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her medical residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and training in rheumatology at both the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston. Dr. Costenbader is a rheumatologist at BWH and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She specializes in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis and she is the Co-Director of BWH Lupus Center.

Dr. Costenbader’s research work investigates risk factors for the development of these diseases and for outcomes among those affected. She has investigated epidemiologic risk factors for SLE and RA. Recent findings have shown that cigarette smoking greatly increases the risk of RA, with a strong dose-effect and gene-environment interaction with HLA and PTPN22 genotypes. Vitamin D and antioxidant dietary intakes do not appear to be related to the future risks of developing either RA or SLE among women. Early menarche, oral contraceptive use and postmenopausal hormone use all increase risk of developing SLE, supporting the hypothesis that estrogen exposure may increase the risk of SLE in some women. Dr. Costenbader has authored more than 80 research manuscripts. She is an associate editor of the International Journal of Clinical Practice and Arthritis Care and Research. She sits on several grant review committees and acts as a reviewer for multiple journals.