International Psoriasis Council

Advancing Knowledge. Enhancing Care.

Advancing Knowledge. Enhancing Care.

Joel

Gelfand

,

MD, MSCE

James J. Leyden Professor of Dermatology and of Epidemiology; Vice Chair of Clinical Research (Dermatology); Director, Psoriasis and Phototherapy Treatment Center
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
,
Pennsylvania
,
United States
Treasurer
Dr. Joel M. Gelfand is a James J. Leyden Professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology (with tenure) at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. He is also Vice Chair of Clinical Research, Medical Director of the Dermatology Clinical Studies Unit, and Director of the Psoriasis and Phototherapy Treatment Center. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in psoriasis, clinical epidemiology, drug safety, and clinical trials. Dr. Gelfand is the author of over 260 scientific publications, editorials, reviews, and textbook chapters (cited over 18,000 times, H index 60), which appear in journals such as JAMA, BMJ, European Heart Journal, Annals of Rheumatic Disease, JAMA Dermatology, JAAD, and the JID. He is the recipient of the American Skin Association’s Psoriasis Achievement Award, PENN’s New Investigator Marjorie Bowman Award and the Lady Barbara Colyton’s Award for Autoimmune research, Penn’s Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology’s epidemiology teaching award, NPF’s inaugural award for scientific achievement, and he is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He has given over 10 named lectureships and keynote addresses including the Society for Investigative Dermatology’s Eugene M. Farber lecture and the American Academy of Dermatology’s Marion B. Sulzberger lecture. He has received grant support from NIH, FDA, PCORI, the Dermatology Foundation, the American Skin Association, the National Psoriasis Foundation, and numerous pharmaceutical companies to support his independent research program. The overarching goal of his research and clinical practice is to improve psoriasis patient outcomes in the skin and joints, while lowering the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality.
Last Updated:
01/31/2022

Areas of Interest

I do investigator initiated research. I created a cohort in UK called iHOPE (the incident health outcomes and psoriasis events) study – this is a prospective study of 9000 patients in which we are evaluating the GPs estimate of body surface area and how this predict future health outcomes. I have also led a series of multi-center placebo controlled trials evaluating the impact of biologics, phototherapy, and apremilast on cardiovascular biomarkers and I am running a pragmatic trial (N=1050) to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of home vs office phototherapy for plaque or guttate psoriasis.

IPC Committees / Groups

Board Treasurer, Executive Committee, Fellowship Program Advisory Committee

Languages Spoken

English

Involvement with Other Organization(s)

Very active with the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF); teaches at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) annually.