Psoriasis
Julia K. Gittler
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: widow-orphan;">Julia K. Gittler, MD, is an attending physician and Assistant Professor at Montefiore-Einstein. Dr. Gittler’s clinical areas of focus include all areas of pediatric dermatology, including eczema, vascular and other birthmarks, acne, genetic skin disorders and other pediatric dermatologic conditions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Gittler earned her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences in 2008 and graduated summa cum laude. From 2008 to 2013, she attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, receiving her Doctor of Medicine and earning distinction in dermatology research through a research fellowship at the Rockefeller University. Her training also includes completion of a yearlong pediatrics internship at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in 2014, a three-year dermatology residency at New York University in 2017 and a yearlong pediatric dermatology fellowship at Columbia University in 2018.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: widow-orphan;">Following her clinical interests, Dr. Gittler’s research focus is on pediatric dermatology. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals. She has also shared her research through poster presentations and lectures at regional and national conferences.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: widow-orphan;">Dr. Gittler is certified in pediatric dermatology by the American Board of Dermatology. She is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and the Society of Pediatric Dermatology.</p>
Benedict C. Wu
<p>Benedict (Benny) Wu, DO, PhD, is the Director of Inpatient Dermatology and Assistant Professor at Montefiore-Einstein. Dr. Wu’s clinical interests extend to inpatient and complex medical dermatology areas, including connective tissue disorders, autoimmune bullous disorders, immunodermatology, cutaneous presentation of systemic conditions, and cutaneous lymphomas.</p>
<p>After earning his Bachelor of Science in biological sciences from the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Wu attended the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, earning his Master of Biomedical Sciences. He later attended Rowan University, earning his Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2014 and his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in 2016. His postdoctoral training began with an internship in internal medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine, followed by a clinical research fellowship at Northwestern University. In 2021, he completed his Dermatology residency at Broward Health in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.</p>
Increasing the diagnostic accuracy of autoantibody-mediated skin diseases.
Prognostic factors in complex medical dermatologic diseases.
<span style="color:#525458;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;"> Dr. Wu’s clinical interests extend to inpatient and complex medical dermatology areas, including connective tissue disorders, autoimmune bullous disorders, immunodermatology, cutaneous presentation of systemic conditions, and cutaneous lymphomas.</span>
<span style="color:#525458;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;">Dr. Wu’s research investigates several questions. His research focus spans from his work in the clinic to the basic sciences. For example, does physical and/or emotional stress significantly exacerbate complex medical dermatoses? In the future, he hopes to examine neutrophil dysfunction at the cellular and molecular level from tissue and blood samples from neutrophil-predominant dermatoses.</span>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif; color: #212121;">Hopkins ZH, Wu BC, Nousari CH. Rituximab versus Mycophenolate Mofetil in Pemphigus Vulgaris. </span><em><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif; color: #212121;">N Engl J Med</span></em><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif; color: #212121;">. 2021;385(11):1055-1056. doi:10.1056/NEJMc2111763</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif; color: #212121;">Nousari Y, Wu BC, Tausk F. From the Caravels to the Wards: Scurvy and Schizophrenia [published online ahead of print, 2021 Jun 8]. <em>J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry</em>. 2021;S2667-2960(21)00097-5. doi:10.1016/j.jaclp.2021.05.006</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif;">Nousari Y, Wu BC, Valenzuela G. Successful use of baricitinib in the treatment of refractory rheumatoid arthritis-associated Sweet syndrome [published online ahead of print, 2021 Apr 29]. <span class="em" style="border: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em><span style="border: none;"><span style="border: none;">Clin Exp Dermatol</span></span></em></span>. 2021;10.1111/ced.14712. doi:10.1111/ced.14712</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic', sans-serif;">Erickson, T. R., Murphrey, M. B., Abu-Zayed, H., Wu, B., Ibler, E., Rangel, S. M., & Paller, A. S. (2020). Transepidermal water loss in the orphan forms of ichthyosis. <span class="em" style="border: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em><span style="border: none;"><span style="border: none;">Pediatric dermatology</span></span></em></span>, <span class="em" style="border: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em><span style="border: none;"><span style="border: none;">37</span></span></em></span>(4), 771–773. https://doi.org/10.1111/pde.14221</span></p>
<p style="padding-top:0px;color:#525458;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;">Benedict (Benny) Wu, DO, PhD, is the Director of Inpatient Dermatology and Assistant Professor at Montefiore-Einstein. Dr. Wu’s clinical interests extend to inpatient and complex medical dermatology areas, including connective tissue disorders, autoimmune bullous disorders, immunodermatology, cutaneous presentation of systemic conditions, and cutaneous lymphomas.</p><p style="padding-top:0px;color:#525458;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;">After earning his Bachelor of Science in biological sciences from the University of California, Irvine, in 2006, Dr. Wu attended the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, earning his Master of Biomedical Sciences in 2007. He later attended Rowan University, earning his Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2014 and his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in 2016. His postdoctoral training began with an internship in internal medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine in 2017, followed by a clinical research fellowship at Northwestern University in 2018. In 2021, he completed a three-year dermatology residency at Broward Health.</p><p style="padding-top:0px;color:#525458;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;">Dr. Wu’s research investigates several questions. His research focus spans from his work in the clinic to the basic sciences. For example, does physical and/or emotional stress significantly exacerbate complex medical dermatoses? In the future, he hopes to examine neutrophil dysfunction at the cellular and molecular level from tissue and blood samples from neutrophil-predominant dermatoses. He has shared his research in many oral and poster presentations, as well as in peer-reviewed publications.</p><p style="padding-top:0px;color:#525458;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;">Dr. Wu is a member of several professional societies, including the American Academy of Dermatology, the Medical Dermatology Society, the Society for Dermatological Hospitalists, and the Society for Investigative Dermatology.</p>
Shudan Wang
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .5in; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Dr. Wang is an Attending Physician in the Division of Rheumatology at Montefiore Medical Center, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is board certified in both internal medicine and rheumatology and currently sees patients at the Montefiore Westchester Practice at Taxter Road. Dr. Wang has an expertise in lupus and lupus related kidney disease. She is also skilled to see a wide range of other rheumatologic diseases, including but not limited to antiphospholipid syndrome, Sjogren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, <span style="color: black;">spondyloarthropathy</span> and psoriatic arthritis, vasculitis, myositis, polymyalgia rheumatica, scleroderma and osteoarthritis.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .5in; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Dr. Wang graduated from McGill University with a major in Physiology and Statistics in 2009. Dr. Wang received her medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in 2013. She subsequently completed her internal medicine residency training at New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell in 2016, followed by a fellowship in Rheumatology at New York University Hospital in 2018. Dr. Wang obtained a MS in clinical research from the Albert Einstein Clinical Research Training Program in 2021. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .5in; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Dr. Wang's research interest is in lupus, focused on the role of the complement system in lupus related kidney disease. Dr. Wang is supported by the NIH KL2 Mentored Clinical Research Scholar Grant and the Rheumatology Research Foundation K-Bridge Grant to investigate complement biomarkers in lupus nephritis using various translational approaches including immunohistochemistry, urine proteomics and single cell RNA sequencing. Dr. Wang has experience working with large cohorts and databases, recruiting patients for the Einstein Rheumatic Disease Registry and serve as sub-investigator for lupus clinical trials. She has published first author papers in prestigious journals, presented her academic work at national meetings and served on NIH and CDC study sections. She was recognized by American College of Rheumatology as a Distinguished Fellow nationally for translational research and clinical excellence in 2018.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">Wang Shudan</span></strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">, Wu M, Chiriboga L, Zeck B, Goilav B, Wang Shuwei, Jimenez-Londono A, </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">Putterman C, Schwartz D, Pullman J, Broder A, HM Belmont. Membrane Attack Complex (MAC) Deposition in Renal Tubules is Associated with Interstitial Fibrosis/Tubular Atrophy: A Pilot Study. <em>Lupus Science & Medicine. </em>2022 Jan; 9(1). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">Tagoe, CE, Wang W, <strong>Wang S</strong>, Barbour K. Association of anti-thyroid antibodies with radiographic knee osteoarthritis and chondrocalcinosis: a NHANES III study. <em>Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease. </em>2021 Aug 4; 13. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">Guerrero, MS, Londono, A, Dobrowolski C, Mowrey WB, Goilav B, <strong>Wang S</strong>, Broder A. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Activity and Hydroxychloroquine Use Before and After End-Stage Renal Disease. <em>BMC Nephrology</em>. 2020 Oct 28; 21(1): 450.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">Wang S, </span></strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">Wu M, Pillinger MH, Krasnokutsky, S, and Barbour K. The Association between Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia and Knee Osteoarthritis: Data from Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. <a title="Osteoarthritis and cartilage." href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=The+Association+between+Asymp… class="highlight"><em><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Osteoarthritis</span></em></span><em> Cartilage.</em></a> 2019 Sep;27(9):1301-1308. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; color: black;">Wang S, </span></strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; color: black;">Wu M, Chiriboga L, Zeck B, HM Belmont. Membrane Attack Complex (MAC) Deposition in Lupus Nephritis is Associated with Hypertension and Poor Clinical Response to Treatment. <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2018; 48(2): 256-262.</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; color: black;">Wang S, </span></strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; color: black;">Broder N, Marchetta P, Nowatzky J. Myelodysplastic syndrome presenting as a Behcet’s like syndrome with aortitis. <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BMJ Case Rep. 2018 March 15. </em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; color: black;">Oshima-Takane Y, <strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wang S</strong>, Takane M and Takane, Y. T</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">he Acquisition of Personal Pronouns in English: Neural Network Stimulations. S<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tudies in Language Sciences. 2014, Jan: 13 (53-69).</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">Sleat DE, Ding L, <strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wang S, </strong>Zhao C, Wang Y, Zheng H, Moore DF, Sims KB, Lobel P<strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">. </strong>Mass spectrometry-based protein profiling to determine the cause of lysosomal storage disease of unknown etiology. <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mole Cell Proteomics</em>. <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">2009 Jul; 8(7): 1708-18.</em> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 24.0pt; text-indent: -.25in;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></strong></p>
Dawn M. Wahezi
<p>Dr. Wahezi attended medical school at the University of Buffalo, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She completed her residency training in Pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, where she stayed on as the inaugural fellow in Pediatric Rheumatology. She subsequently joined the faculty in the Department of Pediatrics at Montefiore and completed a Master’s Degree in clinical research through the Einstein-Montefiore Institute for Clinical and Translational Research Program. Dr. Wahezi is currently an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and serves as the Program Director of the Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship Program. </p>
<p>Dr. Wahezi has a special interest in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) and was awarded the Cure JM Foundation Early Investigator Award for her research in premature atherosclerosis. She has additionally established a pediatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Cohort and participates in a dedicated, multi-disciplinary pediatric Lupus Nephritis Clinic. Dr. Wahezi is currently engaged in several research projects within the domains of JDM and SLE, contributing to over 40 peer reviewed manuscripts, reviews and scientific abstracts.</p>
<p>Dr. Wahezi is an active member of both the JDM subcommittee and SLE subcommittee within the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) and has participated in numerous observational and comparative effectiveness research protocols through this research consortium. </p>
<span style="color:#4d4d4d;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, source-code-pro, Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, 'Courier New', monospace;font-size:16px;background-color:#ffffff;">Pediatric Rheumatology</span>
Dr. Wahezi has a particular research interest in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) and was awarded the Cure JM Foundation Early Investigator Award for her research in premature atherosclerosis.
<p></p>Dawn Wahezi, MD, MS, is Chief of the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology and Director of the Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship Program at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. She is also Associate Professor of Pediatrics at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine.<br /><br />Dr. Wahezi received her Bachelor of Science from Loyola College and earned her Doctor of Medicine at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She obtained a Master of Science in Clinical Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and did her residency and fellowship training at CHAM.<br /><br />Dr. Wahezi’s clinical and research interests include juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) and juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). At CHAM, she established an interdisciplinary clinic and comprehensive patient registry for children with JDM and SLE.. Dr. Wahezi is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Rheumatology Advisory Board and the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA).<p></p>
Ellen D. Teplitz
Ivy Tam
Pediatric Medicine
Dr. Tam’s research aims to improve care and communication for patients with limited English proficiency, as well as standardizing pain practices for children.
<p>Ivy Tam, MD, FAAP, is an Attending Physician and a Non-neonatal Emergency Transport Coordinator at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. She is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. </p><p>In 2009, Dr. Tam received her Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences at Cornell University. She then attended SUNY Upstate Medical University, where she received her Doctor of Medicine in 2013. Dr. Tam began her postgraduate training with a residency in pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in pediatric hospital medicine in 2018 at the University of California San Diego. </p><p>Dr. Tam’s research aims to improve care and communication for patients with limited English proficiency, as well as standardizing pain practices for children. She has shared her work through presentations in academic forums and scientific meetings, and is currently in the process of being submitted for publication. </p><p>2017, Dr. Tam received the CARES Award from hospital staff at Rady Children’s Hospital for her support during the medical director’s absence. Dr. Tam is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. </p>
Clement E. Tagoe
<p>Dr. Clement Tagoe obtained his medical degree from the University of Ghana Medical School, Ghana, and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Leeds, UK. His basic science research interests included the study of the role of annexins in cell function and rheumatic diseases, and subsequently the mechanisms of disease in transthyretin amyloidosis using several animal models of transthyretin amyloidosis. His clinical work in the area of transthyretin amyloidosis has greatly illuminated our understanding of the form of amyloidosis associated with the Transthyretin V122I (pV142I) mutation, which is found in about 3 to 4% of African Americans. His current work focuses on the role of autoimmune diseases in fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain, and in particular the association of these syndromes with autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). His work also explores the other musculoskeletal and rheumatic manifestations of autoimmune thyroid disease, including the association with peripheral osteoarthritis and spinal osteoarthritis. These autoimmune syndromes can occur in the absence of thyroid dysfunction and are of particular interest to physicians and patients because AITD is by far the commonest autoimmune disease.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Selected Bibliography</strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Clement E. Tagoe, Tejas Sheth, Eugeniya Golub, Karen Sorensen (2019) Rheumatic associations of autoimmune thyroid disease: a systematic review Clin Rheumatol. 2019 Jul;38(7):1801-1809., (1-9) DOI: 10.1007/s10067-019-04498-1</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. Kavisha Patel, Clement Tagoe, Phyllis Bieri, Karen Weidenheim & James M. Tauras (2018): A case of transthyretin amyloidosis with myopathy, neuropathy, and cardiomyopathy resulting from an exceedingly rare mutation transthyretin Ala120Ser (c.418G > T, p.Ala140Ser), Amyloid, DOI: 10.1080/13506129.2018.1491398</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. Daniel R. Jacobson, Alice A. Alexander, Clement Tagoe, W. Timothy Garvey, Scott M.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Williams, Sara Tishkoff, David Modiano, Sodiomon Bienvenu Sirima, Issa Kalidi, Toure A, & Joel N. Buxbaum. The Prevalence and Distribution of the Amyloidogenic Transthyretin (TTR) V122I Allele in Africa Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine Epub 14 July, 2016 DOI: 10.1002/mgg3.231</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4. Asha Shrestha, Hillel W. Cohen, Clement E. Tagoe. Association of Autoimmune Thyroid Disease With A Higher Frequency Of Spinal Degenerative Disc Disease Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2016 Mar-Apr;34(2):296-302. Epub 2016 Feb 9. PMID: 26885680</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5. Tagoe CE, Zezon A, Khattri S. Rheumatic manifestations of autoimmune thyroid disease: the other autoimmune disease. J Rheumatol. 2012 Jun;39(6):1125-9. Epub 2012 Apr 15.</p>
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