International Psoriasis Council

Peter van de Kerkhof, MD, PhD, President

Professor. Dr. Peter van de Kerkhof is head of the department Dermatology at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands. He graduated in medicine from the Catholic University of Nijmegen in 1978 and trained in Dermatology at the St. Radboud Hospital, Nijmegen. In 1983 and in 1990 he completed his theses in the faculty of medicine and faculty of sciences resp. Between 1980 and 1984 he completed his training as a dermatologist. Research interests of Professor van de Kerkhof are psoriasis, disorders of keratinization, inflammation and clinical pharmacology of the skin. He has been president of major European Dermatological societies such as European Society of Dermatological Research and European Dermatology Forum. He is member of the editorial board of several international dermatological journals. He is an author or coauthor of more than 500 peer reviewed dermatological journals. At present he is board member of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology and is President of the International Psoriasis Council.

Christopher E.M. Griffiths, MD, FRCP, FRCPath, Secretary & President-Elect

Christopher Griffiths, BSc, MD, FRCP, FRCPath, is Foundation Professor of Dermatology at the University of Manchester and Director of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre. He qualified from St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School, London University and gained his MD also from London University. He trained in dermatology at St Mary’s Hospital, London and the University of Michigan where he was on faculty in the department of dermatology. He developed the “hub-and-spoke” model of dermatology services for Greater Manchester; and introduced a multidisciplinary clinic for severe psoriasis – the Manchester Psoriasis Service – awarded Hospital Doctor Dermatology Team of the Year Award 2002. Named lectureships include the 2006 Sydney Watson Smith lecture at RCP Edinburgh and 2007 Parkes Weber lecture at RCP London. He is President of the European Dermatology Forum, and co-founder of the International Psoriasis Council. In 2009 he received the lifetime achievement award from the American Skin Association. Past-President of the British Association of Dermatologists, past Chairman of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology. He is on the editorial boards of 8 scientific journals, and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology; author of 400 full articles and 150 book chapters, reviews and letters in scientific journals; and a co-editor of Rook’s Textbook. He has long-standing research interests in all aspects of psoriasis. Professor Griffiths is a founding member of IPC and currently serves as Board of Director’s Secretary.

Craig L. Leonardi, MD, Treasurer

Dr. Leonardi is clinical professor of dermatology at St. Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., where he also has a private practice. He received his medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in Florida, and completed an internship in pediatrics and residency in dermatology at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. Dr. Leonardi is certified by the American Board of Dermatology. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and a member of the Noah Worcester Dermatological Society. He is a past member of the medical board of the National Psoriasis Foundation. Dr. Leonardi has extensive experience using new biologics in the treatment of psoriasis. He has been a speaker at national, regional and state venues, and serves on the advisory boards of several pharmaceutical companies. He has been involved in more than 150 clinical trials and has published more than 150 original articles and abstracts in such journals as the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the British Journal of Dermatology, the Archives of Dermatology, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and The New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Leonardi is also a founding board member and Treasurer of the International Psoriasis Council.

Alan Menter, MD, Immediate Past President

Professor Menter is Chairman of the Division of Dermatology and Director of the Dermatology Residency program for Baylor University Medical Center, and Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, both in Dallas. After obtaining his medical degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, Professor Menter completed his residency in dermatology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and fellowships at Guy’s Hospital in London and St. John’s Hospital for Diseases of the Skin in London, as well as the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Professor Menter is board-certified in dermatology. He is involved in multiple clinical, investigative and drug research studies, particularly those relating to psoriasis. In August 2004, Professor Menter founded the International Psoriasis Council (IPC), an international organization dedicated to raising international consciousness and understanding of psoriasis as a serious immune-mediated disease with major quality of life implications. Professor Menter served as the initial President of IPC until December 2010and serves on the board as the Immediate Past President. Professor Menter is also a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, American Dermatological Association, American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, American Society of Dermatologic Surgery, British Association of Dermatologists, and The Society for Investigative Dermatology. He is Past President of the Texas Dermatology Society (1995-1996) and has been an honorary member of Solapso (Latin America Society for Psoriasis) since 2009. He serves on multiple editorial boards and has authored or co-authored more than 254 scientific journal articles, four books and multiple book chapters.

Hervé Bachelez, MD, PhD

Professor Bachelez is professor at the Department of Dermatology of the Saint-Louis University Hospital in Paris, France. Since 2004, Professor Bachelez has been full professor of clinical dermatology at the University of Paris 7, where he received his Ph.D. in immunology in 1999. Professor Bachelez’s clinical and scientific research focuses on molecular immunology at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale(INSERM) at the Saint-Louis Hospital. His areas of scientific interest include psoriasis and other immune-mediated and inflammatory skin diseases, and immuno-intervention in inflammatory and tumor skin diseases. Professor Bachelez has received several scientific awards, including the Robert Degos award. He is a member of several national and international scientific societies, including the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology and the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR), the European Dermatology Forum (EDF). He is past president of the French Society for Dermatological Research, he is a Board member of the French Society for Dermatology and is President of its Psoriasis group, and is a board member for the International Psoriasis Council.

Jonathan Barker, BSc, MD, FRCP, FRCPath

Professor Barker is professor of clinical dermatology and academic head of St. John’s Institute of Dermatology at Kings College London. He is codirector of the Skin Therapy Research Unit and head of the Psoriasis Service, a tertiary referral service for patients with severe psoriasis. He completed his medical degree and training in dermatology at Guy’s Hospital London and undertook a research fellowship at the University of Michigan, USA. Professor Barker’s research interests focus on inflammatory skin diseases, particularly psoriasis, extending from genetic discovery through to investigation of novel therapeutic interventions. He provides the clinical lead for a U.K.- based, internationally competitive group attempting to identify psoriasis susceptibility genes, and through a psoriasis research programme at King’s College London aims to translate this information into changes in clinical practice. He is an advisor to government agencies on new technologies for psoriasis. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and is co-author of the chapter on psoriasis of the major English language textbook of dermatology. He serves on the editorial board of several dermatology journals. He is immediate past-president of the European Dermatology Forum and serves on the Board of Directors for the International Psoriasis Council and serves as Chair for the Scientific Committee.

Alexa Boer Kimball, MD, MPH

Alexa Boer Kimball, MD, MPH, is the Vice President for Practice Improvement at the Massachusetts General Physician Organization and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the Department of Dermatology and Director of the Clinical Unit for Research Trials and Outcomes in Skin based at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr Kimball received her medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine after obtaining bachelor’s degrees in molecular biology and public and international affairs from Princeton University. She completed her residency in dermatology at the Stanford University Medical Center and a clinical research fellowship in dermatology at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, as she concurrently obtained an MPH from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She is widely recognized for her work on psoriasis, physician workforce economics, and outcomes research with articles published in journals such as Archives of Dermatology, Arthritis and Rheumatism, British Journal of Dermatology, and Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, The Lancet, and JAMA. Dr Kimball was previously associate editor for the “Clinical Trials and Therapeutics” section of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology and a medical editor for the “Dermatology” section of eMedicine. She is also the author of the book 101 Questions and Answers about Psoriasis, which has been translated into Spanish and Korean.

Karen Baxter Rodman, CEO and Executive Director

Karen comes to IPC with 20 years experience in nonprofit management, marketing and development. She has raised support for international, national, state and local nonprofit agencies, and permanent endowment for The Dallas Foundation. Karen was also the executive director of the Redman Family Foundation for ten years. Dallas Social Venture Partners, a venture capital fund for social purpose, was founded and initially directed under her leadership. As part of her pioneering work in the field of venture philanthropy, Karen was invited to be part of the initial seminar on Venture Philanthropy at the Aspen Institute and to present at the NESst (Nonprofit Enterprise & Self-Sustainability Team) 1st International Venture Philanthropy Forum. In addition, she received a fellowship to the inaugural class at Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, Executive Program for Nonprofit Leader. In 2003, Karen founded Philanthropic Strategy Group, a consulting group focused on nonprofit capacity building.

Wolfram Sterry, MD

Professor Sterry is Professor and chairman at the Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University, Berlin. Professor Sterry obtained his medical degree from the University of Cologne, where he also completed his doctoral thesis summa cum laude and his dermatology training. He has previously held faculty positions at the University of Kiel and the University of Ulm. Professor Sterry’s research interests include T cell mediated skin diseases such as psoriasis and cutaneous oncology, including malignant lymphoma and melanoma. He has participated in numerous clinical trials and has published 599 scientific articles and many book chapters. He sits on five editorial boards and is the editor in chief of the Journal of the German Dermatological Society JDDG. Professor Sterry is a member of numerous national and international societies and has served in various leadership roles. He is the past-president and board member of the German Dermatological Society, past-president of the European Society for Dermatological research, founding member and past president of the European Dermatology Forum, and board member of the International League of Dermatological Societies. He was dean in Ulm and Berlin. Professor Sterry also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Psoriasis Council.