Share ThisThe AHN Med Talks podcast features Allegheny Health Network doctors discussing specialized medical topics in an in-depth, conversational format. The podcast is produced and distributed to other physicians throughout AHN’s service area. Working with podcast producer Lisa Huckestein, lead marketing strategist at Highmark Health, we’ll also curate and share select episodes of interest to a broader audience here in Highmark Health Digital Magazine. All podcasts are copyright Allegheny Health Network and used with permission.
In this episode, Dr. Joseph Ahearn, chair of the AHN Autoimmunity Institute, talks with host Dr. Rania Habib about the institute’s unique structure and multidisciplinary approach to helping people who have autoimmune diseases or are experiencing symptoms associated with autoimmune diseases. He also touches on some of the pioneering autoimmune disease research done at the institute, including PURPOSE, an ongoing, first-of-its-kind nationwide study involving people with relapsing polychondritis (see sidebar for more information on how to sign up).
Dr. Joseph Ahearn is chair of the Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Autoimmunity Institute and director of the Allegheny Health Network Biobank. He graduated with academic distinction, phi beta kappa, from Cornell University, and received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed a medical internship and residency, alpha omega alpha, at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and fellowships in Rheumatology and Molecular Biology and Genetics at Johns Hopkins. He has served as deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Division of Rheumatology, director of Research for the University of Pittsburgh Arthritis Institute, co-founder of the University of Pittsburgh Lupus Center of Excellence, and chief scientific officer of the AHN Research Institute.
Dr. Ahearn has received the W. Barry Wood Scholarship, an NIH Physician Scientist Training Award, the Hilda Irene Duggan Arthritis Investigator Award, and the Pitt Innovator Award. His research has been supported by multi-million-dollar funding from numerous sources, including the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Lupus Foundation of America, American College of Rheumatology, and Alliance for Lupus Research. He has chaired dozens of peer-review panels including those for the National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense. Dr. Ahearn has published more than 100 reports with a particular focus on discovery and validation of novel biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring of autoimmune diseases. He has secured dozens of U.S. and international patents related to these discoveries, which have been licensed, validated, and commercialized by Exagen, Inc.
His pioneering efforts focused on biomarker discovery and validation have been catalyzed by the Allegheny Health Network Biobank, a state-of-the-art resource with biospecimens and highly annotated clinical data obtained from patients with more than 100 different diseases.
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