Lupus center launching at UMass Chan

A view of UMass Chan Medical School from Plantation Street in Worcester.

Photo | Timothy Doyle UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester

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By Isabel Tehan

UMass Chan Medical School is launching a new clinical care and research center in collaboration with UMass Memorial Health. The new Lupus Center at UMass Chan will centralize resources at the medical school into research and treatment for the autoimmune disease.

Dr. Roberto Caricchio, professor of medicine and chief of the division of rheumatology at UMass Chan is launching the new center, according to a June 28 announcement from the medical school. Caricchio was previously head of rheumatology at Temple University Hospital and director of the Temple Lupus Program in Philadelphia, and joined UMass Chan in July 2022.

The center will be co-led with Dr. Elena Gkrouzman, assistant professor of medicine, and will be staffed by clinical research coordinators, rheumatologists, dermatologists and nephrologists.

“My vision for the Lupus Center is to provide patients a host of services that aim at their betterment from a well-being and a clinical point of view. The center also offers patients the possibility to participate in and engage in breakthrough clinical trials and basic research,” said Dr. Caricchio in the announcement.

Research at the new center will focus on utilizing artificial intelligence to analyze clinical data, identifying triggers or predictors of flares and early signs of the autoimmune disease, and related infections, according to the announcement.

Patients at the center will have the choice to participate in national sample collection programs, and have access to novel treatments and trials, according to the announcement.