Philip Clements, MD

Philip Clements, MD, MPH, is an Emeritus Professor of Medicine Rheumatology at UCLA who has devoted most of his 42-year career to the care of and management of patients with systemic sclerosis and to the scientific evaluation of managements and therapies for these patients. Specifically he has participated in the development, conduct and analysis of many clinical studies and trials in systemic sclerosis: 1) the clinical description of the various organ involvements in patients with systemic sclerosis (pulmonary hypertension, gastrointestinal involvements, interstitial lung disease, muscle and joint involvement) as witnessed in prospective longitudinal trials or cohorts; 2) the development and validation of clinical outcome measures (i.e. modified Rodnan skin thickness score, forced vital capacity, disability index of the Health Assessment Questionnaire, UCLA-SCTC Gastrointestinal Tract Questionnaire) to measure change over time; and 3) the evaluation of therapeutic strategies (i.e. D-penicillamine, chlorambucil, N-acetylcysteine, cyclosporine, rapamycin, imatinib, cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate) designed to improve the function and quality of life in patients with systemic sclerosis. He continues to move forward in all these areas for the near future.