SUMMARY
Alí Duarte García, M.D., MSc., is a physician-scientist who studies systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis and antiphospholipid syndrome. Through his research, Dr. Duarte aims to improve how these diseases are diagnosed, how patients at greatest risk are identified and how treatments are selected.
Dr. Duarte combines population-based epidemiology, large clinical datasets, longitudinal registries, evidence synthesis, clinical informatics and translational research. This approach allows him to study disease burden and outcomes while addressing practical questions about diagnosis and treatment.
A major focus of Dr. Duarte's research is lupus nephritis. He studies how the intensity of treatment — particularly glucocorticoid exposure — affects kidney response, infection and other outcomes. His goal is to identify treatment strategies that maintain their effectiveness while reducing medication-related harm. He served on the Core Leadership Team for the American College of Rheumatology Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Lupus Nephritis clinical practice guidelines, helping translate emerging evidence into recommendations for clinical care.
Dr. Duarte also develops artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled approaches to autoimmune laboratory testing and studies the broader spectrum of antiphospholipid syndrome, including manifestations beyond thrombosis and emerging therapies. Across these programs, he seeks to translate epidemiological evidence, diagnostic innovation and therapeutic research into more-precise clinical decisions for patients with autoimmune diseases.
Focus areas
- AI-enabled autoimmune diagnostics. Dr. Duarte develops clinical informatics and translational laboratory approaches to improve the diagnosis of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases. He combines epidemiology, AI and autoimmune biomarkers to improve the interpretation of antinuclear antibody testing and identify clinically meaningful autoantibody patterns.
- Lupus treatment optimization. Dr. Duarte studies how to maximize treatment effectiveness while reducing treatment-related harm in lupus and lupus nephritis. Through his research, he examines glucocorticoid exposure, immunosuppressive therapies, kidney response, infection risk and long-term outcomes to identify safer and more effective treatment strategies.
- Lupus epidemiology and long-term outcomes. Dr. Duarte uses population-based cohorts, longitudinal registries and large clinical datasets to study the incidence, disease burden and long-term outcomes of systemic lupus erythematosus. Through initiatives such as the Lupus Midwest Network, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he seeks to identify factors associated with adverse outcomes and generate population-level evidence to inform clinical care.
- Real-world evidence, comparative effectiveness and safety. Dr. Duarte uses large clinical datasets and observational research methods to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of treatments for systemic autoimmune diseases. His research examines immunosuppressive therapies, glucocorticoid exposure, infection risk and other clinically important outcomes. He also applies clinical trial emulation methods to real-world data to address treatment questions that may be difficult to answer in conventional randomized trials.
- Antiphospholipid syndrome: clinical spectrum and emerging therapies. Dr. Duarte studies the diverse clinical manifestations of antiphospholipid syndrome and the factors that influence disease outcomes. He uses prospective international cohorts, biomarkers and clinical trials to better define patient subgroups, identify predictors of thrombosis and other disease manifestations and evaluate emerging therapeutic approaches.
Significance to patient care
Patients with lupus, lupus-related kidney disease and antiphospholipid syndrome often face difficult treatment decisions. These diseases can cause serious health issues, and the medicines used to treat them can cause side effects. Patients also may need repeated testing to monitor the disease and its treatment.
Dr. Duarte's research aims to make these decisions more precise and reduce treatment risks. He studies how to control kidney inflammation while reducing the harmful effects of steroids. Dr. Duarte also examines how to identify people who are at higher risk of blood clots and how to improve blood tests used to detect autoimmune diseases.
This research may help medical teams diagnose disease more accurately, choose safer and more effective treatments, and avoid medicines and tests that may not be needed. The goal is to reduce complications and improve long-term outcomes for patients.
Professional highlights
- Principal investigator, "Transforming Antinuclear Antibody Testing: Leveraging Epidemiology and Artificial Intelligence to Detect Autoimmune Disease," National Institutes of Health, 2026-2031.
- Clinical lead, Lupus Midwest Network, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021-2022, 2022-2027.
- American College of Rheumatology:
- Member, Core Leadership Team, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Lupus Nephritis clinical practice guidelines, 2023-2025.
- Distinguished Fellow Award, 2019.
- Department of Medicine Rising Researcher Award, Mayo Clinic, 2025.