Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis: Providing Bidirectional Care


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Owing to the overlap and transition of care between psoriasis, a systemic condition typically presenting as skin manifestations, and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), a chronic heterogeneous inflammatory arthritis that may occur concurrently with psoriasis, a multidisciplinary approach is required during patient management.

We’re joined by a dermatologist and rheumatologist, and Penn Medicine colleagues, Joel Gelfand, MD, and Alexis Ogdie, MD, who provide deeper insight into the overlap and transition of care between patients with psoriasis and PsA and the measures that can be taken to bridge the gap in dermatology and rheumatology practices.

This episode was co-hosted along with the editor of Dermatology Advisor.

Read the full transcript for this episode here.

Joel M. Gelfand MD, MSCE, is a 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 text book chapters (cited >18,000 times, H index 60), which appear in journals such as Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), British Medical Journal (BMJ), European Heart Journal (EHJ), Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (ARD), JAMA Dermatology, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD), and the Journal Investigative Dermatology (JID). He is a past associate editor of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, past editorial board member of JAAD, and is currently the deputy editor of JID.

Dr Gelfand is the recipient of the American Skin Association’s Psoriasis Achievement Award, Penn’s New Investigator Marjorie Bowman Award, Lady Barbara Colyton’s Award for Autoimmune Research, Penn’s Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology’s epidemiology teaching award, National Psoriasis Foundation’s (NPF) inaugural award for scientific achievement, and is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He co-chairs the NPF’s COVID-19 task force and is a member of the board of directors for the International Psoriasis Council.

Dr Gelfand is a co-author of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)-NPF joint guidelines of care for psoriasis. He has given more than 10 named lectureships and keynote addresses, including the Society for Investigative Dermatology’s Eugene M. Farber lecture and the AAD’s Marion B. Sulzberger lecture. He has received grant support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the Dermatology Foundation, the American Skin Association, the NPF, and numerous pharmaceutical companies to support his independent research program.

The overarching goal of Dr Gelfand’s 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.

Alexis Ogdie, MD, is an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology, deputy director of the Penn Center for Clinical Epidemiology, and director of the Penn Psoriatic Arthritis and Spondyloarthritis Program at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Dr Ogdie’s research program is focused PsA, an inflammatory arthritis that affects up to 30% of patients with psoriasis. The mission of her research program is to improve outcomes in PsA by accelerating diagnosis, increasing the focus on meaningful patient-centered outcomes, and developing and advancing methods for precision medicine.