"Speaking of Vitiligo..."

As many of you already know, in addition to our large research laboratory focused on developing new treatments for vitiligo, I direct the UMass Vitiligo Clinic, where we diagnose and treat patients with vitiligo from all over the world. As some of you also know, there is a long wait for an appointment in the clinic, partly because so many patients want to be seen and partly because appointments are limited to only one afternoon per week. The limited time is because the research keeps me very busy, and I can’t carve out more time for the clinic.

The good news is that we are adding a new faculty member to the Vitiligo Clinic, and you might recognize his name. Dr. Mehdi Rashighi has worked with me for over 8 years, spending 5 years in the lab and 3 years training in clinical dermatology, including the Vitiligo Clinic. His work with me included a study on CXCL10 in vitiligo, which was published in Science Translational Medicine in 2014, and a report treating the first vitiligo patient with ruxolitinib in 2016 (in addition to 10 other papers). These studies provided the rationale for many of the clinical trials that are ongoing and already showing promise. Before joining UMass, Dr. Rashighi obtained his medical degree at Tehran University and then conducted clinical trials in dermatology for 4 years, where he published a number of papers reporting clinical study results about other diseases in dermatology.

Dr. Rashighi is excited to start seeing vitiligo patients, both because he is a vitiligo expert and because the need is so great! He will help reduce our wait times for an appointment and help to oversee our clinical trials as well. In addition to being really smart and knowing an incredible amount about vitiligo, Dr. Rashighi is a really nice doctor whose patients constantly sing his praises!

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Rashighi to the Vitiligo Clinic and book your appointment with him today!