Penn Medicine awards Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, the James J. Leyden Endowed Professorship

Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, was named the James J. Leyden, MD, Endowed Professor in Clinical Investigation at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which the professor called a tremendous honor.

“It is especially meaningful to me as I was a resident with Dr. Leyden and did some of my very early clinical trials with him, evaluating the impact of tacrolimus ointment on the bacterial ecology of the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis,” Gelfand told Healio.

A tenured professor of dermatology and epidemiology at Perelman School of Medicine, Gelfand is nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in psoriasis, clinical epidemiology, drug safety and clinical trials.

He is also the Penn’s Department of Dermatology’s vice chair of clinical research, medical director of the dermatology clinical studies unit and director of the psoriasis and phototherapy treatment center.

The James J. Leyden, MD, Endowed Professorship in Clinical Investigation was proposed in 2009 by William D. James, MD, to further distinguish the university’s department of dermatology.

“Dr. James Leyden was the foremost international expert in acne and investigated a wide variety of other skin conditions as well,” James told Healio. “Having a chair named in his honor is not only a way to recognize his huge impact on our field and our patients but also will serve to help the chair-holder to continue their work in the area of clinical investigation.”

Leyden was chief of clinical services in the early 1970s and was credited in helping to develop and commercialize a variety of topical and oral medications for acne, fungal and bacterial infections.

James notes Gelfand’s impact on the department and the field of dermatology.

“Dr. Joel Gelfand has changed the way we think of psoriasis through his ground-breaking epidemiologic analysis of large groups of patients with this condition,” James said. “He is a perfect example of someone who is making a similar impact in our field as Dr. Leyden and richly deserves to hold this chair.”

As the new chair, Gelfand hopes to further develop the programs to help broaden the department’s research.

“My goal is to help the department expand the rigor and impact of its programs in clinical investigation through training the next generation of clinical scientists, mentoring junior faculty and fostering the infrastructure necessary to ensure the human research is conducted ethically, accurately and scientifically,” Gelfand said.

“Our primary mission is to conduct clinical research that produces generalizable knowledge so that people suffering with dermatological diseases can benefit from our studies locally, nationally and internationally,” he continued.