Medical Advisory board
Our Medical Advisory board is a leading body of scleroderma experts working to improve patient care and scleroderma awareness across the nation. The medical advisory board helps to:
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Give advice to improve standards of care for scleroderma patients.
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Create educational forums and literature for patients, families, and healthcare provides to improve patient care
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Support scleroderma research
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Encourage collaboration between national and international medical institutions
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Give general advice on medical standards, credibility, accessibility, advocacy, and communication to medical organizations, such as the National Institute of Health.
Cedars Sinai
Francesco Boin, MD
Dr. Francesco Boin is the Director of the Rheumatology Division, Kao Autoimmunity Institute at Cedars-Sinai. Dr. Boin received his M.D. degree from the University of Padova Medical School. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic and a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical and experimental rheumatology at Johns Hopkins University.His clinical activity is devoted to patients with fibrosing skin disorders including systemic sclerosis, eosinophilic fasciitis, scleromyxedema as well as primary Raynaud’s phenomenon and other systemic rheumatic diseases.
Standford University
David Florentino, MD, PhD
Dr. David Fiorentino, is Professor of Dermatology at Standford University. He directs the multi-disciplinary rheumatic skin disease clinic (along with rheumatology) and a complex medical dermatology continuity clinic. He is interested in the role of cancer in autoimmunity, he also studies autoantigens and their role in pathogenesis and classification of dermatomyositis and systemic sclerosis and conducts clinical trials novel therapeutics for these diseases.
University of California, Los Angeles
Dan Furst, MD, Chair
Dr. Daniel E. Furst was the first Carl M. Pearson Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Medical Center. Dr. Furst received his MD from Johns Hopkins University and two fellowships in Rheumatology and Clinical Pharmacology.Dr. Furst has been on a number of national committees concerned with rheumatic therapeutics. He recently was co-leader of the ACR recommendations for the use of non-biologic and biologic therapies in RA and is a Master of the ACR. Dr. Furst has published more than 650 articles and 15 books, including more than 220 research articles. Dr. Furst’s areas of research interest include the clinical pharmacology of anti-rheumatic drugs and biologics, and the pathophysiology and treatment of systemic sclerosis.
Product Manager
Suzanne Kafaja, MD
Dr. Suzanne Kafaja is a board-certified rheumatologist and the Director of the Scleroderma Clinical Trials Program at UCLA. She is a highly esteemed physician-scientist who specializes in rheumatology with expertise in scleroderma. Dr. Kafaja’s compassionate and integrated whole-body approach to rheumatology is evidenced by her achievements and contributions to patient care. Her expertise, research, and leadership roles at UCLA and beyond make her a respected and renowned physician-scientist in the field of rheumatology and autoimmune diseases.
HR Lead
Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc
Dr. Khanna's contributions to the medical field are exceptional, as he leads international efforts to develop guidelines for managing scleroderma and has been instrumental in designing clinical trials for new treatments, resulting in the development of numerous drugs and the publication of over 550 peer-reviewed papers. He is the Director of the University of Michigan’s scleroderma program and in 2011, he received the Doctor of the Year Award from the Scleroderma Foundation.
Customer Support Lead
David Leader, MD
Dr. David Leader is an associate professor in the department of Comprehensive Care and he is the director of the dental emergency clinic. He is a member of the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine Class of 1985 and earned a Master of Public Health from the Tufts University School of Medicine in 2013. Dr. Leader is a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of international, national and regional scleroderma organizations. Dr. Leader is also the 2017 recipient of the Tufts University Provost's Award for Outstanding Teaching and Service. Dr Leader is the chair of the Massachusetts Dental Society's Dental Education Committee.
QA Specialist
Lesley Saketkoo, MD
Dr. Saketkoo is the director and founder of the New Orleans Scleroderma and Sarcoidosis Patient Care and Research Center. She is a clinical researcher recognized for her work in clinical trial design and in identifying patients' priorities in life-threatening autoimmune illnesses including pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary fibrosis. She also developed research tools with patients including targeting self-management strategies with yoga, dance, and singing for lung health rehabilitation as well as mindfulness practices. In 2018, she was honored with Doctor of the Year from the Scleroderma Foundation.
Content Strategist
Debbie Green
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