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Philip Mease, MD

Dr Mease is Director of Rheumatology Research at the Swedish Medical Center and Providence St Joseph Health and Clinical Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA. His clinical practice is based at Seattle Rheumatology Associates. Dr Mease earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at Stanford University, Stanford, CA and completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Dr Mease’s research interests include psoriatic arthritis (PsA), spondyloarthritis (SpA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA), fibromyalgia (FM) and osteoporosis, focusing on disease state, outcome measure development and the efficacy and safety of emerging therapies for these conditions. He has authored over 500 journal articles, book chapters and many hundreds of abstracts, and edited textbooks on PsA and axial SpA. He is a reviewer for multiple journals including New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Arthritis & Rheumatology, Arthritis Care & Research, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, The Journal of Rheumatology and Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. Dr Mease is a prolific international speaker at academic congresses, educator for rheumatologists and dermatologists, and is considered an international opinion leader on SpA.

Dr Mease is a past president and founding organizer of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) and is a member of the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society and the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network. He has also been active in the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) research organization as co-chair of the PsA and chronic pain working groups and as a member of the steering committee.

Articles By Philip Mease, MD

Methotrexate

Best of 2022: Methotrexate in PsA

By Philip Mease, MD

Until the publication of the SEAM trial, evidence in the medical literature for the efficacy of the most commonly used drug for psoriatic arthritis worldwide, methotrexate, has been lukewarm at best. Yet we all employ it commonly, either as monotherapy or in combination with biologic or targeted synthetic DMARD treatment. It is inexpensive and widely available, and only modestly toxic.

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Pain in Psoriatic Arthritis

By Philip Mease, MD

Pain is typically ranked by both patients and physicians as the most important symptom of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) to assess and treat. Although the predominant concept of the etiology of pain in PsA is that of inflammation in peripheral joints, entheses, and bone signaling through peripheral nociceptive fibers, perceived as pain in the central nervous system, it is actually more complex than that. The ability of a treatment to ameliorate pain is one of the principle measures of its effectiveness. Thus pain improvement or worsening are key determinants of shared decision making about treatment in PsA. 

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Axial Disease in Psoriatic Arthritis

By Philip Mease, MD

Inflammatory involvement of the axial skeleton and sacroiliac joints occurs, on average, in 40-50% of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). When present, axial involvement is a “biomarker” of more severe PsA disease: more severe peripheral joint disease, enthesitis, skin disease, pain, impaired function and quality of life, and work productivity. Thus, it is important to recognize and include in a comprehensive PsA treatment approach.

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Methotrexate

Methotrexate in PsA

By Philip Mease, MD

Until the publication of the SEAM trial, evidence in the medical literature for the efficacy of the most commonly used drug for psoriatic arthritis worldwide, methotrexate, has been lukewarm at best. Yet we all employ it commonly, either as monotherapy or in combination with biologic or targeted synthetic DMARD treatment. It is inexpensive and widely available, and only modestly toxic.

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