Joel M. Gelfand, MD MSCE
Medical Director, Clinical Studies Unit
Associate Professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology (tenured)
Senior Scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Joel M. Gelfand is Associate Professor of Dermatology and of Epidemiology (tenured), Senior Scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Associate Fellow, Center for Public Health Initiatives, Medical Director of the Clinical Studies Unit in the Department of Dermatology, and a Member of the Cancer Center, Center for Pharmacoepidemiology Research and Training, the Penn Institute for Immunology, and the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, all at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a board certified dermatologist whose clinical work focuses on general dermatology and psoriasis. He has created a multi-disciplinary approach to the care of psoriasis patients at PENN through his recruitment and mentoring of a rheumatologist and cardiologist who now specialize in systemic complications of psoriasis. His research focuses on clinical trials and epidemiology. His clinical trials research is aimed at improving trial efficiency through the development and validation of surrogate endpoints and the use of efficient statistical designs. He has designed and conducted clinical trials to evaluate novel therapies for psoriasis, hidradenitis, hair growth prevention, and cutaneous T cell lymphoma.
Dr. Gelfand’s epidemiologic research focuses on the natural history of diseases associated with psoriasis and the effectiveness of psoriasis treatments. He has published extensively on the epidemiology of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, the impact of psoriasis on health related quality of life, and the risk of various co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, lymphoma, myocardial infarction and mortality associated with psoriasis. His original research articles have appeared in JAMA, European Heart Journal, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Archives of Dermatology, British Journal of Dermatology, and Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. Many of his research publications have been covered by national and international print (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post), internet (CNN, Medscape), and television news media (ABC, CBS, CNN). Dr. Gelfand is the author of over 100 research articles, reviews, and text book chapters which have been cited over 4500 times, making him among the most highly cited clinical scientists. He is an Associate Editor for Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, and Continuing Medical Education Editor, Emedicine, Dermatology section. He is also an ad hoc editor for over 20 peer reviewed medical journals.
Dr. Gelfand received his undergraduate training at Tufts University, (BS, Biology, Summa Cum Laude), and his medical degree from Harvard (Magna Cum Laude). He performed an internship in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, (New York, NY), and completed his residency in dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania. He received a Masters of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania as well. Dr. Gelfand’s research and career are supported by grants from the National Institute for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases, the National Heart Lung Blood Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, the American Skin Association, and the Dermatology Foundation. He is the principal investigator for three large ongoing projects: The Dermatology Clinical Effectiveness Research Network (DCERN) which collects data from dermatologists across the US to evaluate effectiveness of psoriasis treatments in real world settings; the Incident Health Outcomes and Psoriasis Events study (iHOPE), a prospective study of 9000 psoriasis patients which evaluates how body surface area of skin involvement influences risk of cardiovascular disease; and, the Vascular Inflammation in Psoriasis trial (VIP) which is a rigorous multi-center trial that will determine the impact of psoriasis treatment on novel biomarkers of cardiometabolic disease. He is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, the Society for Investigative Dermatology and the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology. In 2011, he was the recipient of the prestigious American Skin Association Achievement Award for Psoriasis Research and the Perelman School of Medicine’s Marjorie Bowman Award for Clinical Research excellence.
