Achievements and News

News Spotlight

Repurposing Tocilizumab in Scleroderma Patients May Prevent Early Lung Disease

Repurposing Tocilizumab in Scleroderma Patients May Prevent Early Lung Disease

Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, David Roofeh, MD, and team find that an anti-inflammatory drug used in rheumatoid arthritis can preserve lung function in patients with systemic sclerosis. Read more on Michigan Medicine Health Lab.
 

National Research Effort Discovers Relationship Between Inflammation, Metabolism, and Scleroderma Scarring

National Research Effort Discovers Relationship Between Inflammation, Metabolism, and Scleroderma Scarring

John Varga, MD finds NAD+ break down leads to multi organ scarring, providing now a previously undiscovered pathogenic role of the enzyme CD38 in disease scarring. Read more on Michigan Medicine Health Lab.
 

In the News

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2015

2014

Invited Lectures & Workshops

  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, 1st International Symposium on Interstitial Lung Disease in Rheumatic Diseases, Webinar, February 2021.
  • John Varga, MD, Keynote Speaker, 2020 Japanese Dermatology Association Annual Meeting, Japan, November 2020.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, Emirates Rheumatology Academy Best of ACR Conference, United Arab Emirates, February 2020.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, Masterclass on ILD-SSc (World Scleroderma Foundation and the European Scleroderma Trials and Research Group), Florence, Italy, September 2019.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, NYU Langone Seminar in Advanced Rheumatology, New York, March 2019.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, 55th Annual André Aisenstadt Memorial Clinical Day, Montreal, Canada, October 2018.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, Emirates Society of Rheumatology and American College of Rheumatology, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 2018.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, Scleroderma Foundation’s National Patient Education Conference, Pennsylvania, July 2018.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, Monsoon Rheumatology Summit, Cochin, India, July 2018.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, 18th Singapore Society of Rheumatology-Malaysian Society of Rheumatology Workshops in Rheumatology, Singapore, August 2017.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, Advanced Rheumatology Course, Indian Rheumatology Association, Bangalore, India, August 2016.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, APLAR 2015 Meeting (American College of Rheumatology), Chennai, India, September 2015.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, 3rd Systemic Sclerosis World Congress, Rome, Italy. February 2014.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, New Zealand Rheumatology Association Annual Meeting, New Zealand, August 2013.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, EULAR Annual Meeting, Madrid, Spain, June 2013.

Awards & Recognition

  • Scleroderma Program peer mentors, Sheri Hicks and Mary Alore, are recognized by the Office of Patient Experience. December 2020.
  • Jody Fisher, Program Manager of the Scleroderma Program, is nominated for an Evan Newport HOPE Award. December 2017.
  • Eliza Tsou, PhD, receives the Marta Marx Fund for the Eradication of Scleroderma. February 2016.
  • Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, is awarded the American College of Rheumatology Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award, which is given to a young physician scientist, age 45 or younger by October 1 of the year in which they are nominated, who has made outstanding and promising independent contributions to basic or clinical research in the field of rheumatology. December 2015.
  • The Prospective Registry of Systemic Sclerosis (PRESS) is featured in Scleroderma Voice magazine. The PRESS Registry recently received the Scleroderma Foundation Collaborative Research (SCORE) grant. August 2015.
  • U-M researchers, Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc and Cathie Spino, ScD, receive $7M to study scleroderma treatment. January 2015.

Grants

  • Rheumatology Research Foundation – Innovative Research Award ($400,000) (Murphy/Khanna co-PIs). Resilience-based, Energy Management to Enhance Wellbeing in Scleroderma (RENEW): Testing of a Peer-Mentored Web-based Intervention. This project’s objective is to validate and refine a theoretically grounded intervention addressing fatigue and known correlates. We will engage a variety of stakeholders of patients, providers, and advocacy organizations and test the efficacy of this program. Peer mentors from the UM Scleroderma Program will serve as trained health coaches. (funding dates: July 2021 – June 2023).
  • National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Community Living, Health and Function (LiveWell RERC). Health Tracker Companion App for People with Scleroderma ($21,200) (Murphy PI). This project is focused on developing an App-version of the RENEW web-based intervention above. (funding dates November 2020 – October 2021). 

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