GRAPPA Continues Efforts to Advance Care for Patients With Plaque Psoriasis

The Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) is dedicated to furthering clinical care, education, and research for patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The interdisciplinary organization brings together rheumatologists, dermatologists, basic scientists, medical and research trainees, and patient research partners.

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The organization recently celebrated 20 years of helping develop medical guidelines for the treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. GRAPPA also educates practitioners on new developments in the field and funds research grants to advance medical knowledge of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

“The impetus for forming GRAPPA was (and remains) to take advantage of the many new therapeutic agents and treatment approaches for psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis to bring together diverse expertise to help explore ways to improve outcomes for affected patients,” said Arthur Kavanaugh, MD, professor of medicine at the University of California at San Diego. He continued, “Since its formation, GRAPPA has helped advance the field by producing treatment recommendations for [psoriatic arthritis], developing novel research studies, supporting research, and assisting in educational programs.”

GRAPPA’s goals include providing an opportunity for clinicians to share knowledge and research findings, to promote the development of national and international collaborative registries of patients to standardize data, and to promote public awareness of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. “We are excited to see an expansion of the types of research being performed, including clinical research, translational research, and basic science research,” GRAPPA Research Committee Co-chairs Vinod Chandran, MD, DM, PhD, MBBS, FRCPC, associate professor, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and director of the Psoriatic Arthritis Program, Schroeder Arthritis Institute at the University Health Network; and Wilson Liao, MD, professor and vice chair of research in the Department of Dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco, told Dermatology Times.

They added, “Special topics of interest include developing better ways to diagnose psoriatic arthritis, understanding the full spectrum of psoriatic diseases, refining outcome measurement tools, identifying novel molecular and digital biomarkers, understanding sex and gender differences, and examining best practices for managing difficult-to-treat patients. We are excited that many of these research activities are being supported by the collaborative efforts of academia, industry, nonprofit organizations, and patient research partners.”

GRAPPA also collaborates with other professional organizations, such as the American Academy of Dermatology and the American College of Rheumatology, to further knowledge of research within those specialties. In addition, the group works closely with representatives of member biopharmaceutical companies on research on effective therapies and promotes public awareness of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

GRAPPA offers video training modules to support clinicians in learning examinations such as the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index and Nail Psoriasis Severity Index. The nonprofit organization is based in Seattle, Washington, and has more than 1000 members from around the world.