Dr. Joseph Merola MD, MMSc

Joseph F. Merola, MD, MMSc is Chair of Dermatology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX;

he is Professor of Dermatology, Professor of Medicine and Rheumatology and Professor at the Peter

O’Donnell Jr School of Public Health. He holds the Mary Kay Distinguished Chair in Dermatology. Dr.

Merola is board-certified in Dermatology, Internal Medicine, and Rheumatology.

Prior to taking his Chair position in 2023, Dr. Merola was a Vice Chair and Associate Professor in the

Department of Dermatology and Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology at Harvard Medical

School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston. He served as the Vice Chair for Clinical Trials

and Innovation, the Founding Director of the Clinical Unit for Research Innovation and Trials (CUReIT),

Director of the Center for Skin and Related Musculoskeletal Diseases and the Associate Program Director

for the Harvard Combined Internal Medicine-Dermatology Residency Training Program at the Brigham

and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Merola earned his medical degree at the New York University

School of Medicine and his Masters of Medical Sciences degree at Harvard Medical School. He

completed an internship in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in

Philadelphia, followed by a residency in Dermatology at the New York University Medical Center, where

he was chief resident. He continued with a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in

Rheumatology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Merola was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Dermatology, is the

Founding President of the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Clinics Multicenter Advancement Network

Consortium (PPACMAN), is on the Scientific and Medical Boards of the National Psoriasis Foundation,

Board of the International Dermatology Outcome Measures Group and president-elect of GRAPPA

(Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis), the Board of the American Skin

Association, on the Medical and Scientific Board of the Lupus Foundation of America. He is also the

recent past president of the Medical Dermatology Society and is president-elect of the Rheumatology-Dermatology Society. He is a councilor for the International Eczema Council as well as the International

Psoriasis Council. He has served on multiple committees including the AAD Guidelines Committee.

He was named one of Boston’s Top Doctors every year for nearly a decade and is an international expert

in inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, namely Psoriasis / Psoriatic Arthritis and Connective Tissue

Disease including Lupus and Dermatomyositis.

Dr. Merola has published over 340 peer-reviewed publications and received numerous awards including

the NPF’s Outstanding Educator Award, the Winter Clinical Educator of the Year Award, the Brigham and

Women’s Hospital Distinguished Clinician Award, the Mass General Brigham Pillar Award in Research

Leadership, among many other research, mentorship and leadership awards. He will be honored in

2024 at the National Psoriasis Foundation’s Commit to a Cure Gala in Dallas, TX.