What’s New at GRAPPA

The Verna Wright Prize 2020

Congratulations to GRAPPA Vice President, Oliver FitzGerald, this year’s recipient of the Verna Wright Prize. The following is from the Update on Psoriatic Disease website (https://www.updatepsoriaticdisease.com/):

Oliver FitzGerald, MD FRCPI FRCP (UK)

Consultant Rheumatologist (emeritus), St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland and Newman Clinical Research Professor, Conway Institute for Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland

Professor Oliver FitzGerald qualified from UCD in 1978 and completed his postgraduate training both at UCD and at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Professor FitzGerald has published over 330 peer-reviewed papers, many on the subject of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. His main research interests in psoriatic arthritis include clinical and therapeutic studies; the development of novel imaging techniques for measuring synovial or entheseal inflammation, including ultrasound and MRI; analysis of synovial and skin cellular and cytokine profiles; and more recently, studies of gene and protein expression in diseased tissue and in liquid biopsies with a view to developing multi-omic biomarkers of PsA diagnosis, outcome and treatment response. He currently receives research-funding support from the Irish Health Research Board and a number of pharmaceutical companies.
Professor FitzGerald has served on a number of editorial boards. He is currently vice-President of the Group for Research and Assessment in Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) and a member of both the European Synovitis Study Group and the Ankylosing Spondylitis Assessment Group. As co-chair of the GRAPPA research committee, he has been driving the development of a Collaborative Research Network (CRN) within GRAPPA with the aim of addressing critical areas of unmet need in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Professor FitzGerald received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Society for Rheumatology in 2018.

GRAPPA 2020 Pilot Research Grant Awards

This year GRAPPA awarded four research projects: three were awarded $25,000 each and one rheumatology/dermatology collaboration was awarded $35,000. The winners are:

$25,000 Awards

Anneliese Ashhurst, PhD, University of Sydney, Australia. Self-derived immunomodulatory peptide RP23 as a novel therapeutic for psoriasis. Richard J Payne and Scott N Byrne Research Groups.

Ashley Elliott, PhD, Queen’s University Belfast, UK. Predicting response to treatment in those receiving biologic therapy in Psoriatic Arthritis: Linking Clinical, Imaging and Molecular Markers to better stratify patients. Oliver FitzGerald and Stephen Pennington, Conway Institute in University College Dublin.

Paras Karmacharya, MD, Mayo Clinic, USA. Multimorbidity in psoriasis as a risk factor for PsA. Alexis Ogdie, University of Pennsylvania.

$35,000 Rheumatology/Dermatology Collaborative Award

Rochelle Castillo, MD and Di Yan, MD, MS. NYU Grossman School of Medicine, USA. Spatial transcriptomics of the psoriatic plaque as a predictor of progression to psoriatic arthritis and response to TNF inhibition. Jose Scher, NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

GRAPPA COVID-19 Guidance Statement

This guidance was prepared by rheumatologists, dermatologists and patient members of GRAPPA to provide guidance to persons with psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis during the current COVID-19 pandemic, in particular to those taking immunosuppressant medicines. Click here to read entire statement.

GRAPPA’s “A Patient’s Guide to Treatments for Psoriatic Arthritis”

This guide is now available free for download. Written in lay language, it explains current treatments for psoriatic disease. Health care professionals are encouraged to provide it to their patients. The guide was written by members of GRAPPA’s patient research partner team, with support from GRAPPA’s treatment recommendations group. Printing instructions are supplied in a separate pdf. To download, please click on this icon: