David Fiorentino, MD, PhD

Clinical Focus

• Dermatology
• Autoimmune Diseases
• Psoriasis
• Dermatomyositis
• Scleroderma, Systemic

Administrative Appointments

• Founding member, North American Rheumatologic Dermatology Society (NARDS) (2006 - present)
• Scientific advisory board, National Psoriasis Foundation (2008 - present)
• Advisory board, The Myositis Association (2008 - present)
• Advisory board, Lupus Foundation of America (2008 - present)
• Steering Committee, Group for Research and Assessment in Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) (2006 - present)
View All 7administrative appointments of David Fiorentino

Honors and Awards

• Clinical Immunology Faculty Scholarship Award, Center for Clinical Immunology at Stanford (2003-2006)
• Medical Dermatology Development Award, Dermatology Foundation (2004-2007)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Sarah Chisolm

Research Interests

I am interested in the pathophysiology, natural history and treatment of patients with immune-mediated skin disease. In conjunction with Dr. Lorinda Chung, Assistant Professor of Rheumatology, we have developed a multi-disciplinary autoimmune skin disease clinic. This weekly clinic is dedicated to the management of patients with rheumatic skin disease, such as lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, dermatomyositis, vasculitis, and psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis.

Part of my research focus is to conduct clinical trials in patients with all types of immunologic skin disease. The skin is the only target organ in which you can actually visualize the direct effects of inflammation, without the need for surrogate markers. We are particularly interested in studying in vivo effects of targeted therapeutic agents in order to better understand the biology of different types of cutaneous inflammation. To this end, we conduct phase I, II, and III trials in patients with a diverse array of inflammatory skin diseases.

We are also creating a longitudinal clinical and tissue bank derived from patients seen in our clinics. One focus of this translational research effort is to understand the pathophysiology of dermatomyositis. This is a particularly challenging clinical model, as it is known to be associated with internal malignancy in up to 30% of patients. In addition, there is considerable heterogeneity between patients, in terms of skin versus muscle inflammation. We are using microarray technology to identify novel targets for disease as well as molecular signatures that will help clinicians to better manage their patients with this devastating disease. We believe that, from these studies, it will be possible to make accurate clinical predictions regarding: risk of internal malignancy, risk of lung disease, or response to various therapeutic agents.

Clinical Trials

• A Study of the Safety and Efficacy of JNJ-26113100 in the Treatment of Adult Atopic Dermatitis Recruiting
• A Study to Evaluate Safety of Multi-Dose MEDI-545 in Adult Patients With Dermatomyositis or Polymyositis Recruiting
• A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of Etanercept in Treating Lichen Planus on the Oral Mucosa or Skin Recruiting
• Alitretinoin in the Treatment of Chronic Hand Eczema Recruiting
• Digital Ulcers in Scleroderma treated with oral Treprostinil Diethanolamine Recruiting

Publications

• MQX-503, a novel formulation of nitroglycerin, improves the severity of Raynaud's phenomenon: a randomized, controlled trial. Chung L, Shapiro L, Fiorentino D, Baron M, Shanahan J, Sule S, Hsu V, Rothfield N, Steen V, Martin RW, Smith E, Mayes M, Simms R, Pope J, Kahaleh B, Csuka ME, Gruber B, Collier D, Sweiss N, Gilbert A, Dechow FJ, Gregory J, Wigley FM. Arthritis Rheum. 2009; 60 (3): 870-7
• Molecular framework for response to imatinib mesylate in systemic sclerosis. Chung L, Fiorentino DF, Benbarak MJ, Adler AS, Mariano MM, Paniagua RT, Milano A, Connolly MK, Ratiner BD, Wiskocil RL, Whitfield ML, Chang HY, Robinson WH. Arthritis Rheum. 2009; 60 (2): 584-91
• Imatinib in the treatment of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Chandran S, Petersen J, Jacobs C, Fiorentino D, Doeden K, Lafayette RA. Am J Kidney Dis. 2009; 53 (1): 129-32
• Type I interferon in the induction or exacerbation of dermatomyositis: what this observation tells us about the naturally occurring disease. Fiorentino DF, Arch Dermatol. 2008; 144 (10): 1379-82
• Mycophenolate mofetil. Zwerner J, Fiorentino D. Dermatol Ther. 2007 Jul-Aug; 20 (4): 229-38