- IPC GENERAL
- IPC News
It all started in the summer of 2004 when Dr. Alan Menter suggested a meeting with Dr. Craig Leonardi and Professor Chris Griffiths, along with a biotechnology consultant, at a dermatology meeting in New York City to discuss the possibility of forming an international organization to advance the understanding of psoriasis research and education. Dr. Menter had spent a year working with a patient in Dallas, Texas, who made a substantial donation to the launch of the organization, as well as helping recruit Malia Tee Lewin after hosting a meeting with pharmaceutical companies and members of the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF).
At the time, biologic therapies were just coming onto the scene (the first biologics for treating psoriasis were approved in 2003), fueling a heightened awareness of psoriasis and research into the disease. “We felt that we needed a group of international psoriasis experts to make treatment recommendations and to educate others about these new developments,” says Menter, who first had the idea and broached the idea with a colleague in the rheumatology world in Europe to review how rheumatologists had formed a similar organization.
Griffiths recalls, “There needed to be an international organization that furthered our understanding of research and education—a global body, like a think tank, one that was distinct from patient support organizations. (It would be) composed of professional health care practitioners and researchers and focused primarily on psoriasis.”
“We weren’t exactly sure where we were going, but we knew that there was a huge gap in physician education,” says Leonardi. We thought we would create a group that would be structured along those lines with the highest ethical standards we could apply to the process, trying to stay as neutral as possible regarding industry and producing high-quality educational materials for our members and dermatologists in general.”
Following the meeting in New York, several pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, and Novartis, provided additional financial support, and IPC hired its first paid employee to run the organization. Currently, IPC has nine employees and consultants.
After a lively discussion over dinner at a downtown Italian restaurant that extended long into the night, the group decided to move forward with this new organization. Dr. Menter approached an attorney friend in Dallas, who, on a pro bono basis, helped create a not-for-profit organization and to research potential names for the organization, which finally was structured under the name of the International Psoriasis Council (IPC).
Menter was elected as the IPC’s first President and, along with Griffiths and Leonardi, Wolfram Sterry, Scott Ginsburg, Melia Tee Erwin, and Melodie Young, formed the first Board of Directors.
Looking Ahead
Today, IPC’s global network includes a 14-member Board of Directors, 160 Councilors representing 40 countries, and 2,000 psoriasis enthusiasts from 95 countries who participate in our programs and activities. In addition, over 37,000 people participated in IPC education programs in 2023, accumulating over 13,000 hours of education, and IPC provided more than 80,000 professionals with disease information, medical education, and clinical resources through its website.
As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we are proud of our progress and excited for what lies ahead. IPC will continue to innovate, expand our programs, and foster global collaboration to improve psoriasis research and education with a major focus on early-career clinicians and researchers. Stay tuned for our upcoming events and initiatives as we embark on the next chapter of our journey together.
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