The Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center specializes in the care of patients with scleroderma and related conditions such as Raynaud’s phenomenon, localized scleroderma, scleromyxedema, scleredema, and eosinophilic fasciitis, among others. The doctors are attending physicians and full time faculty members at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. All are board-certified in rheumatology.
The mission of The Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center is to provide excellent clinical care while seeking to better understand the causes and best treatment approaches for scleroderma. All physicians at the Center are actively involved in clinical or translational research, looking for ways to transform discoveries in the laboratory into new and better treatments for patients with scleroderma.
Other members of The Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center supporting patient care and research efforts include a clinical nurse, research and patient care coordinators, and medical assistants. The Center is linked to other expert specialists at Johns Hopkins that help manage scleroderma related health problems. The team is dedicated to ensuring the highest quality, state-of-the-art health care for patients.
The Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center is one of the largest and most active in the world, seeing over 200 new patients each year.
Physicians and Faculty
Our dedicated team of doctors and staff are committed to ensuring the highest quality care for patients. Our doctors are attending physicians and full time faculty members at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. All are Board Certified in Rheumatology. Other members of our Scleroderma Center include a Nurse Practitioner, Research Nurse, Research Coordinators, Medical Office Coordinators and Administrative staff who assist in the care of our patients.
Fredrick Wigley, M.D.
- Physician-Scientist
- Founder of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center
- Martha McCrory Professor of Medicine
- Associate Director, Division of Rheumatology
Dr. Wigley received his M.D. degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine. He completed an internship and residency at Johns Hopkins where he also completed his postdoctoral fellowship in the Hopkins Rheumatology program. He joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1979 and founded The Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center in 1990 with Robert A. Wise, M.D., of the Johns Hopkins Division of Pulmonary Medicine.
Dr. Wigley received the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Distinguished Clinician Scholar Award in 2009 and the ACR Masters Award in 2011. In 2014, he received from the American College of Physicians the Mary Betty Stevens Award for Excellence in Clinical Research. In April 2014, he received the Martha McCrory Endowed Professorship dedicated to support his academic work in education, patient care, and research at Johns Hopkins. In 2019, he became the Associate Editor for the Journal, Arthritis & Rheumatism focusing on Scleroderma related publications.
Dr. Wigley’s research focuses on the biological events that cause scleroderma and better ways to manage the disease and predict its course. He has a special interest in Raynaud’s phenomenon and other scleroderma-like diseases.
Laura Hummers, M.D., ScM
- Physician-Scientist
- Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center
- Associate Professor of Medicine
- Clinical Director, Division of Rheumatology
Dr. Hummers earned her M.D. degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry. She completed her internship and residency at Thomas Jefferson University and a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins. She received a Master’s degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The Scleroderma Foundation recognized Dr. Hummers in 2012 for her Outstanding Patient Support. Her research has received funding from both the Scleroderma Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIAMS). She is an Advisory Editor for the Journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Dr. Hummers’s research focuses on understanding the natural course of the disease and developing new treatment for scleroderma. She has a special expertise and interest in a rare disease that mimics scleroderma called scleromyxedema.
Ami Shah, M.D., MHS
- Physician-Scientist
- Director, Division of Rheumatology
- Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center
- Professor of Medicine
- Deputy Director, Rheumatology Precision Medicine Centers of Excellence clinical programs
Dr. Shah completed her undergraduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned her M.D. degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency at Stanford University and a rheumatology post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins. She received a Master of Health Sciences degree in Clinical Investigation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Shah has received the Edith Busch Prize for Young Investigators, a prestigious award recognizing her outstanding contributions to scleroderma research, at the 2018 Systemic Sclerosis World Congress. She was also honored to receive the Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology in 2020. This award recognizes early career scientists who have made outstanding and promising independent contributions to basic, translational or clinical research in the field of rheumatology. Dr. Shah receives research support from the Scleroderma Research Foundation, the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIAMS).
Dr. Shah’s epidemiological and translational research studies have focused on 4 major areas: (1) the link between rheumatic diseases (scleroderma, myositis, lupus) and cancer, (2) development of rheumatic immune related adverse events after treatment with immunotherapy for cancer, (3) early detection of cardiopulmonary complications in scleroderma including pulmonary arterial hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction, and (4) improving outcome measures, biomarkers and therapeutics for Raynaud’s phenomenon and ischemic digital ulcers. She also leads our Division’s clinical precision medicine programs, including work to develop new tools to improve our ability to predict complications and therapeutic response in scleroderma.
Julie Paik, M.D., MHS
- Physician-Scientist
- Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Paik completed her undergraduate degree at the Johns Hopkins University and medical degree at George Washington University School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at UCLA-Cedars-Sinai/West LA VA medical center, where she served an additional year as chief resident. She then completed fellowship training in rheumatology at Johns Hopkins and she received a Master’s degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She joined the Hopkins faculty playing a major role in both the Scleroderma Center and the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center.
Dr. Paik received the Mark Millen Memorial Award for Rheumatology clinical excellence in 2006. She received funding for her research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIAMS).
Dr. Paik’s research interests focus on neuromuscular manifestations of autoimmune diseases, particularly in the areas of inflammatory muscle diseases and muscle disease in scleroderma. She has a special interest in novel therapy for dermatomyositis.
Christopher Mecoli, M.D., MHS
- Physician-Scientist
- Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Christopher Mecoli received his medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and completed his internship and residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed fellowship training in rheumatology at Johns Hopkins and received a Master’s degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He joined the faculty with joint appointments in the Scleroderma Center and the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center.
Dr. Mecoli was awarded membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society in 2010. In 2011 he was honored with the Dr. Jacob Dreskin Award for Clinical Excellence and in 2013 given the Ralph Schumacher Award in Rheumatology. In 2017 he was named a Jerome L Greene Foundation Scholar, and in 2019 received the Johns Hopkins Clinician Scientist Award. He receives research support from the NIH/NIAMS and is an active member of the American College of Rheumatology.
Dr. Mecoli has a particular interest in exploring the relationship between cancer and inflammatory muscle disease, novel treatment for scleroderma, understanding morphea (localized scleroderma) and the role vascular biomarkers and specific scleroderma disease outcomes. He is also playing a major role in the development of Precision Medicine in our Division.
Rachel Wallwork, M.D., MHS
- Physician-Scientist
- Instructor of Medicine
Dr. Rachel Wallwork graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Medical School. She completed internal medicine residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital. During her rheumatology fellowship, she received her Master of Health Science in Clinical Investigation through the Graduate Training Program in Clinical Investigation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Wallwork was awarded the American College of Rheumatology’s Distinguished Fellow Award in 2022. She has received funding from the Greene Scholars award and Rheumatology Research Foundation.
Dr. Wallwork’s research focuses on optimizing early detection of scleroderma-related lung disease progression with the goal of improving lung disease-related morbidity and mortality.
Timothy Kaniecki, MD
- Physician-Scientist
- Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Timothy Kaniecki is a physician-educator in the Division of Rheumatology. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh and medical degree at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, before going on to complete his internal medicine residency at the Osler Residency Program at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Kaniecki then pursued fellowship training in Rheumatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, staying on afterwards to join faculty. His focuses include myositis, arthritis, scleroderma, and consultative rheumatology.
Dr. Kaniecki’s interests primarily lie in clinical care and graduate/postgraduate medical education; projects have included developing ambulatory rheumatology curriculum for internal medicine residents and facilitating small groups for preclinical medical students. As a fellow he also pursued research of gastrointestinal dysmotility evaluation and management in scleroderma and clinical profiling of myositis subgroups.
Dr. Kaniecki is an active member of the American College of Rheumatology and the Maryland Society for the Rheumatic Diseases.
Nurse Practitioner
Jheneale Grandison, DNP, CRNP, AGNP-C
Dr. Jheneale Grandison is an adult nurse practitioner who specializes in gerontology, internal medicine, and primary care. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree from CUNY College of Staten Island, New York, and then earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She started her career at Johns Hopkins Hospital and has over 10 years of healthcare experience that ranges from in-patient to outpatient care. She holds a national certification with the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Dr. Grandison is an adjunct clinical instructor at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She is committed to education and high-quality comprehensive patient care; she values patient partnership and compassionate care.
Staff
Pam Hill
Pam Hill is the Medical Office/Administrative Coordinator for Dr. Fredrick M. Wigley. She has Worked at John Hopkins for 36 years, of which 14 have been with the Department of Rheumatology.
Mrs. Hill oversees physician scheduling and administrative functions for Dr. Wigley. She also manages his new patient referrals, patient scheduling, prescriptions, medical disability forms, and patient clinic activities.
Research Coordinators
Gwen Leatherman, R.N.
Gwen Leatherman is the Sr. Research Nurse at the Scleroderma Center. She is responsible for all clinical trials and investigator-initiated clinical research.
Mrs. Leatherman earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science in health from Towson University. She has over 25 years experience working with Scleroderma patients and coordinating clinical trials.
Adrianne Woods, B.S., CCRP
Adrianne Woods is a Research Coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center. She has been with the Department of Rheumatology for 18 years, 16 of which have been spent with the Center. Adrianne works on a number of clinical research projects including overseeing the research database, one of the largest scleroderma research databases in the world. She is highly involved with the transition of the Center to a Precision Medicine Center of Excellence as well as the Precision Medicine Analytics Platform (PMAP), a secure research analytics environment.
Adrianne is highly interested in the scleroderma and rare disease patient experience. She has been involved with a number of volunteer opportunities within Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and Kennedy Krieger. In 2019, Ms. Woods became a Trustee with the Schinzel-Giedion Syndrome Foundation.
Michelle Leatherman, B.S.
Michelle Leatherman is a Research Coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center. She has been with the Department of Rheumatology for 3 years, recently accepting a full time position with the Research team.
Ms. Leatherman attended Towson university, Earning her Bachelors of Science in Education.
Cheryl Clare
Cheryl Clare is a Research Program Coordinator in the Scleroderma Center. She works on clinical trials and investigator-initiated clinical studies. Mrs. Clare has earned an Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Systems degree from the Community College of Baltimore County. She has over 20 years of experience working in the medical research field.
