April 19, 2023 – Alexandria, Virginia – The National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) is pleased to announce the awarding of 5 Summer Student Research Grants and 3 Psoriatic Disease Research Fellowships. These awards represent the continued commitment of NPF to developing the next generation of psoriatic disease and comorbidities researchers under the mentorship of leaders in the field.

“These types of research awards are an essential part of our mission to cure this disease,” said Leah M. Howard, J.D., the President and CEO of NPF. “These investigators are each working alongside an established expert to explore subjects of immediate importance to the community of people impacted by psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Not only will we learn a lot now – we also hope to entice these researchers to remain dedicated to studying psoriatic disease throughout their careers.”

Each Psoriatic Disease Research Fellowship awardee will receive $50,000. Fellowship grants are provided to eligible institutions to develop and enhance the opportunities for physicians training for research careers in academic dermatology and rheumatology.

Awardee

• Sara Bilimoria, M.D. mentored by April Armstrong, M.D., MPH, University of California, Los Angeles
  “Psoriasis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the U.S.”
• Renee Haughton, M.D. mentored by Emanual Maverakis, M.D., The Regents of the University of California (University of California, Davis)
  “Characterization of Epidermal Lipid Expression in a Diverse Sample to Identify Diagnostic Biomarkers in Psoriasis”
• William Song, BS, mentored by Joel M. Gelfand, M.D., MSCE, University of Pennsylvania
  “Variation in Disease Burden, Access, and Cost Based on Race, Ethnicity, and Fitzpatrick Skin Type in Patients with Psoriasis Seeking Phototherapy”

Each Summer Student Research Grant awardee will receive $5,000. With these grants, NPF supports undergraduate and medical students conducting research focused on psoriatic disease or comorbidities, under the mentorship of well-established researchers.

Awardee

• Brett Shaffer mentored by Steven Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., Wake Forest University Health Sciences
  “Deucravacitinib Adherence Study”
• Christeen Samuel mentored by Ana-Maria Orbai, M.D., MS, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  “Investigating the Relationship Between Psoriasis Phenotypes and Psoriatic Arthritis Relapse Presentations”
• Nicholas Chronis mentored by Vinod Chandran, M.D., DM, Ph.D., University Health Network, Toronto
  “Defining Characteristics of Difficult-to-Treat Psoriatic Arthritis Patients”
• Ryan Jones mentored by Nisarg Shah, Ph.D., The Regents of the University of California, San Diego
  “Immunoregulatory Nanoparticles for Modulating Psoriatic Arthritis”
• Sara Ragi mentored by Eunyoung Cho, DSc, Brown University
  “Pre-diagnostic Plasma Metabolites and Risk of Psoriasis”

To learn more about NPF grants and fellowships, visit psoriasis.org/available-funding-opportunities.

About the National Psoriasis Foundation

Serving its community through more than 55 years of support, advocacy, research, and education, the NPF is the world’s leading nonprofit organization representing individuals with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The NPF mission is to drive efforts to cure psoriatic disease and improve the lives of more than 8 million individuals in the United States affected by this chronic immune-mediated disease. As part of that effort, NPF created its Patient Navigation Center to offer personalized assistance to everyone with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis. In recent years, NPF has funded more than $30 million in research grants and fellowships that help drive discoveries that may lead to better treatments and ultimately a cure. Learn more at psoriasis.org.