Dana Ascherman, MD, has been appointed to the position of Chief, Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, effective December 1, 2020. His appointment concludes a comprehensive and expansive search of a diverse group of internal and external candidates by the Search Committee.
An international leader in the field of autoimmune diseases and idiopathic inflammatory myopathy, Dr. Ascherman is a talented translational researcher and highly respected clinician. He has skillfully led the Division since May 2020, when he was appointed Interim Chief. We are confident that his strengths across the tripartite mission and his proven administrative acumen will enable the Division to continue to grow and flourish under his leadership.
Dr. Ascherman returned to the University of Pittsburgh in 2018 as Professor of Medicine from the University of Miami, having previously served as Assistant and then Associate Professor in the University of Pittsburgh’s Departments of Medicine and Immunology from 1998-2010. After graduating from Harvard College (summa cum laude), Dr. Ascherman undertook his medical training at Stanford University and then completed Internal Medicine residency as well as Rheumatology fellowship at Georgetown University—with additional post-doctoral training at the National Institutes of Health as part of the ABIM-sponsored Clinical Investigator Pathway. He is an accomplished R01- and Merit Review-funded translational investigator, with expertise ranging from basic and pre-clinical science to biomarker discovery. Dr. Ascherman’s research focuses on the immunopathogenesis of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy as well as autoimmune interstitial lung disease, with particular emphasis on the relationship between innate and adaptive immune responses in these diseases. He has published more than 50 original peer-reviewed manuscripts as well as numerous invited reviews and book chapters, has served on multiple NIH and foundation grant review committees, and has held a number of editorial roles. Although his clinical interests expand to the broader spectrum of autoimmune disorders, Dana has worked with members of the Pulmonary Division to develop the interdisciplinary Autoimmune Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic. In addition to these activities, Dr. Ascherman has dedicated more than 20 years to the teaching of medical students, residents, and clinical fellows, including serving in directorship roles.
We are delighted to appoint Dr. Ascherman as Division Chief of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, and his experience and leadership as a researcher, educator, clinician, and administrator will help take the Division to a new level of excellence.