Gut Feelings

Welcome back to “Journals”! Our topic of discussion today comes from the manuscript Anti-Gephyrin Antibodies: A Novel Specificity in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis and Lower Bowel Dysfunction and our guest today is the study’s first author, Dr. Zsuzsanna McMahan. The study recognizes that the enteric nervous system (ENS) regulates the gastrointestinal (GI) function, which is commonly impaired in those who suffer from systemic sclerosis (SSc). Dr. McMahan and her team’s objective for this study was “to identify novel anti-ENS autoantibodies with an aim to clinically phenotype SSc GI dysfunction”. We sit down with Dr. McMahan and discuss the study’s methods and discoveries. Plus, her experience transitioning from a junior to an independent investigator and what advice she can offer our young listeners for the journey along the way.