Meet the Team
Our Clinicians
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Read Peter Merkel, MD, MPH's BioPeter Merkel, MD, MPH
Chief of the Division of Rheumatology
Peter Merkel, MD, MPH
Chief of the Division of Rheumatology
Dr. Merkel is the Chief of Rheumatology and a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Merkel is an internationally recognized research and clinical expert in scleroderma and vasculitis, diseases he has studied for over 25 years, and is an author on over 300 scientific publications. Dr. Merkel’s research focuses on clinical trial design and conduct, outcome measure development, clinical epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, and biomarker discovery. Dr. Merkel is a longstanding leader within the Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium, an international organization the facilitates collaborative research in scleroderma and advances new initiatives to better study this disease. He is also active the work of the Scleroderma Foundation.
Dr. Merkel is the Principal Investigator a current major international effort to establish the standard methods to be used to study scleroderma in clinical trials so that new drugs will be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This work is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Merkel received his MD from Yale University, his MPH from Harvard University, completed his residency training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and his fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. -
Read Nora Sandorfi, MD, MSCE's BioNora Sandorfi, MD, MSCE
Associate Professor of Medicine
Nora Sandorfi, MD, MSCE
Associate Professor of Medicine
Nora Sandorfi, MD is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Penn Division of Rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her clinical practice is primarily focused on the treatment of the challenging condition, scleroderma. During the past close to two decades, she has served as a Principal Investigator on numerous clinical trials in scleroderma, contributed to multiple publications, and trained fellows at the scleroderma specialty clinic. Dr. Sandorfi also regularly participates in multiple educational events organized for patients with scleroderma. In her free time, she is an avid athlete and most importantly the proudest mom of her three young adult children.
Dr. Sandorfi obtained her medical degree at Semmelweis University, in Budapest, Hungary. Following her residency training, she completed her rheumatology fellowship at the Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia. During her training she spent two years in Dr. Sergio Jimenez’s lab where she studied regulatory mechanisms of collagen production in scleroderma supported by an NIH training grant. Later, she became a faculty member at Jefferson University, and in 2012 she joined the University of Pennsylvania Scleroderma Center. -
Read Chris Derk, MD's BioChris Derk, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Chris Derk, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Dr. Chris Derk is a Professor of Clinical Medicine and the Fellowship Program Director of the Rheumatology Division who specializes in Systemic Sclerosis, Raynaud’s Phenomenon, and other rheumatic based fibrotic illnesses. He has published more than 50 peer reviewed manuscripts in the field and has presented his work both at a national and international level. He has participated in multiple clinical research projects in the field and has taught extensively on the subject to medical trainees, patients, and other physicians.
Dr. Derk received his undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University and his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University, where he also received a master's in Pharmacology. -
Read Naomi Amudala, CRNP, MSN's BioNaomi Amudala, CRNP, MSN
Nurse Practitioner
Naomi Amudala, CRNP, MSN
Nurse Practitioner
Naomi Amudala, RN, FNP-BC received her Master's degree in Nursing from the MGH Institute of Health Professions. She first joined the faculty at the Boston University Scleroderma Center in 2009, where she saw patients and also was a co-investigator for multiple clinical trials. In 2018 she moved to the Penn Scleroderma Center, where the majority of her time continues to be dedicated to the clinical care of patients. She remains involved in research and is a co-investigator for multiple clinical trials.
Research Team
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Sally Thompson, MBE
Clinical Research Manager
Sally Thompson, MBE
Clinical Research Manager
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Sarah Gillespie
Clinical Research Coordinator
Sarah Gillespie
Clinical Research Coordinator
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Alison Keenan
Clinical Research Coordinator
Alison Keenan
Clinical Research Coordinator
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Lauren Baker
Clinical Research Coordinator
Lauren Baker
Clinical Research Coordinator
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Wren Catrillo
Clinical Research Coordinator
Wren Catrillo
Clinical Research Coordinator
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Kathryn Doyle
Laboratory Technician
Kathryn Doyle
Laboratory Technician
