Research on home-based phototherapy treatment for psoriasis proposed by Dr. Joel Gelfand of the University of Pennsylvania's medical school recently obtained $8.6 million in funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
PCORI, an independent group established by Congress in 2010, selected Gelfand’s project for the funding based on its potential to eliminate disruption and inconvenience for psoriasis sufferers who currently must visit a doctor’s office several times weekly for phototherapy sessions to relieve the itching, painful skin condition, a Penn Medicine release said.
“Home-based phototherapy represents a more patient-centered approach, but there is a lack of data comparing its effectiveness to that of the office-based treatments,” Gelfand, a professor of dermatology and epidemiology at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, said in the release.
Phototherapy uses ultraviolet B light to alleviate psoriasis symptoms by penetrating the skin and decreasing impacted cell growth, the release said. Gelfand’s study will compare home-based and office-based treatment.
“This project was selected for PCORI funding not only for its scientific merit and commitment to engaging patients and other health care stakeholders in a major study conducted in real-world settings, but also for its potential to answer an important question about phototherapy and psoriasis and fill a crucial evidence gap,” PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby said in the release.
