New Medical Director Named to Lupus Center of Excellence at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC
PITTSBURGH, January 9, 2008 — Fotios Koumpouras, M.D., has joined the Lupus Center of Excellence at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC as the center’s medical director. Formerly a rheumatology postdoctoral fellow at the Yale University School of Medicine, Dr. Koumpouras is responsible for managing the administration and direction of the multidisciplinary patient care program of the Lupus Center. Dr. Koumpouras also has been appointed an assistant professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology and clinical immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. An accomplished scientist, he brings with him the Physician Scientist Development Award, a grant that will be used to further investigate biomarkers for lupus diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring.
“We are very pleased to welcome a leader of such capability,” said Susan Manzi, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Lupus Center co-director. “It is clear that our patients have already benefited from his presence.”
Estimated to affect more than 1.5 million Americans, lupus is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder that can attack any part of the body such as skin, hair and internal organs. About 90 percent of patients are women of childbearing age, and the disease is two to three times more common in minority populations. Lupus has a constellation of symptoms including joint pain, scaly, red patches of skin, fatigue and many others depending on which organ system is affected. It is related to other inflammatory illnesses such as thyroiditis, vasculitis and Sjogren’s syndrome.
Prior to joining the Lupus Center at Magee, Dr. Koumpouras was a resident at the University Hospital and Medical Center at Stony Brook, part of the State University of New York.
“I am excited about being in Pittsburgh and helping the Lupus Center of Excellence to fulfill its mission,” said Dr. Koumpouras. “Rheumatic diseases are puzzling cases, and they push the science of medicine. I am dedicated to giving these patients their lives back.”
“From the patient’s first call, all the way through to discharge, I’m always looking for ways to make things better and translate my experiences into compassion,” said Dr. Koumpouras. “For me, being a doctor is both a privilege and a passion.”
Dr. Koumpouras received his doctor of medicine degree from St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies; and a Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY-Albany.
The Lupus Center of Excellence provides world-class care to patients with lupus in a facility staffed with internationally renowned physicians and researchers who have access to the latest treatments and clinical trials. The center is the only one in the country to offer a comprehensive, multidisciplinary environment, where patients with lupus are offered specialists for all their health care needs.