- Behcet's disease
- Churg Strauss syndrome
- Giant cell arteritis
- Granulomatosis with polyangiitis
- IgG4
- Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD)
- Polymyalgia rheumatica
- Relapsing polychondritis
- Scleroderma
- Takayasu arteritis
- Temporal arteritis
- Vasculitis
Peter A. Merkel, MD, MPH
Rheumatology
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Penn Rheumatology Perelman
Penn Medicine Provider
About me
- Chief, Division of Rheumatology
- Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology)
- Professor of Epidemiology in Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Dr. Peter Merkel is Chief of Rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania and is an internationally recognized research and clinical expert in vasculitis and scleroderma, diseases he has studied for more than 20 years. He completed his residency training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and his fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Merkel’s research focuses on clinical trial design and conduct, outcome-measure development, clinical epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, and biomarker discovery. He is the principal investigator of the NIH-sponsored Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium (VCRC), the leading research infrastructure for vasculitis clinical investigation in North America, with additional projects worldwide. He is also a founding member of the NIH Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN). He is the Chair of the OMERACT Vasculitis Working Group. Dr. Merkel has also conducted substantial research in scleroderma, with a focus on outcome measures and clinical-trial design. He receives the majority of his research support from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and receives additional funding from industry sources and private foundations. He has been an author on over 350 scientific publications.
My education and training
- Medical School: Yale University School of Medicine
- Residency: University of Pennsylvania Health System
- Fellowship: Massachusetts General Hospital
Spoken languages
English
English
Reviews
137 reviews
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Insurance accepted
Please contact the practice and/or the member services department of your insurance company for specific details before receiving services. Providers may participate in some, but not all, products offered by a health plan; providers may also accept plans at some practice locations but not others.
- Aetna Advantra Cares D-SNP
- Aetna Advantra Credit Value
- Aetna Advantra Eagle HMO
- Aetna Advantra Eagle POS
- Aetna Advantra Premier Plus PPO
- Aetna Advantra Value
- Aetna Advantra Value Plus
- Aetna APCN Plus (Multi-Tier)
- Aetna Better Health Kids (CHIP) - DH Only
- Aetna Flexible Five
- Aetna Freedom Core
- Aetna Gold
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Philly Prime
- Aetna POS
- Aetna PPO APCN
- Aetna Premier
- Aetna Premier Plus
- Aetna Savings Plus
- Aetna Signature Administrators
- Aetna Student Health Plan PPO
- Aetna Upfront Advantage
- First Health HMO
- First Health POS
- First Health PPO
- Meritain - Aramark (Other)
- Meritain - Aramark (Pennsylvania Premier Medical Plan)
- Americhealth Caritas of PA VIP - LGH Only
- Amerihealth Caritas (Transplant patients only)
- Amerihealth Caritas of PA - LGH Only
- Amerihealth of NJ Core
- Amerihealth of NJ Enhanced
- Amerihealth of NJ HMO
- Amerihealth of NJ Local Value
- Amerihealth of NJ POS
- Amerihealth of NJ PPO
- Amerihealth of NJ Regional Preferred
- Amerihealth of NJ Secure
- Amerihealth of NJ Ultimate (PPO)
- Centivo EPO
- Cigna Healthcare EPO
- Cigna Healthcare HMO
- Cigna Healthcare POS
- Cigna Healthcare PPO
- Claim Watcher (Homestead/ INDECs) Open Access
Locations
Penn Medicine hospital privileges
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
- Pennsylvania Hospital: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
- Penn Presbyterian Medical Center: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Qualifications and experience
- Rheumatology, 1994
- American College of Physicians, National
- American College of Rheumatology, National
- American Federation of Clinical Research, National
- Churg Strauss Syndrome Association, National
- European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Guidelines Committee on Classification Criteria for Vasculitis, International
- International Network for the Study of Systemic Vasculitides, International
- Member, Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium, National
- New England Rheumatism Society, Local
- Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium, National
- Scleroderma Foundation, New England Chapter, Local
- Society of General Internal Medicine, National
- Takayasu's Arteritis Association, National
- Vasculitis Foundation, National
- Recognized annually in Philadelphia Magazine's Top Docs issue from 2013 through 2025
Treatments and conditions
Research
Publications
Mann S, Hussain A, Dua AB, Patrone A, Larson K, Merkel PA, Micheletti RG Vasculitis Patient-Powered Research Network. Assessment of Cutaneous Vasculitis and Quality of Life , JAMA Dermatol, 159(6): 2023,667-9
Putman MS, Gribbons KB, Ponte C, Robson J, Suppiah R, Craven A, Watts R, Luqmani R, Merkel PA, Archer AM, Grayson PC. "Clinicopathologic Associations in a Large International Cohort of Patients with Giant Cell Arteritis". , Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken): 2020
Ortiz-Fernández L, Saruhan-Direskeneli G, Alibaz-Oner F, Kaymaz-Tahra S, Coit P, Kong X, Kiprianos AP, Maughan RT, Aydin SZ, Aksu K, Keser G, Kamali S, Inanc M, Springer J, Akar S, Onen F, Akkoc N, Khalidi NA, Koening C, Karadag O, Kiraz S, Forbess L, Langford CA, McAlear CA, Ozbalkan Z, Yavuz S, Çetin GY, Alpay-Kanitez N, Chung S, Ates A, Karaaslan Y, McKinnon-Maksimowicz K, Monach PA, Ozer HTE, Seyahi E, Fresko I, Cefle A, Seo P, Warrington KJ, Ozturk MA, Ytterberg SR, Cobankara V, Onat AM, Duzgun N, Bıcakcıgil M, Yentür SP, Lally L, Manfredi AA, Baldissera E, Erken E, Yazici A, Kısacık B, Kaşifoğlu T, Dalkilic E, Cuthbertson D, Pagnoux C, Sreih A, Reales G, Wallace C, Wren JD, Cunninghame-Graham DS, Vyse TJ, Sun Y, Chen H, Grayson PC, Tombetti E, Jiang L, Mason JC, Merkel PA, Direskeneli H, Sawalha AH. "Identification of susceptibility loci for Takayasu arteritis through a large multi-ancestral genome-wide association study". , Am J Hum Genet: 2020
Monti S, Quinn KA, Christensen R, Jayne D, Langford C, Lanier GE, Mahr A, Pagnoux C, Viðarsdóttir MB, Merkel PA, Tomasson G. "Use and reporting of outcome measures in randomized trials for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis: a systematic literature review". , Semin Arthritis Rheum., 50(6): 2020,1314-25
Merkel PA, Niles J, Jimenez R, Spiera RF, Rovin BH, Bomback A, Pagnoux C, Potarca A, Schall TJ, Bekker P. "Adjunctive Treatment With Avacopan, an Oral C5a Receptor Inhibitor, in Patients With Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis". , ACR Open Rheumatol, 2(11): 2020,662-71
George MD, Venkatachalam S, Banerjee S, Baker JF, Merkel PA, Gavigan K, Curtis D, Danila MI, Curtis JR, Nowell WB. "Concerns, Healthcare Use, and Treatment Interruptions in Patients With Common Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases During the COVID-19 Pandemic". , J Rheumatol: 2020
Danda D, Goel R, Joseph G, Kumar ST, Nair A, Ravindran R, Jeyaseelan L, Merkel PA, Grayson PC. "Clinical course of 602 patients with Takayasu's arteritis: comparison between Childhood-onset versus adult onset disease". , Rheumatology (Oxford). : 2020
Hatemi G, Meara A, Ozguler Y, Direskeneli H, Mahr A, Shea B, Cam E, Gul A, Yazici Y, Tugwell P, Yazici H, Merkel PA; "The OMERACT Core Set of Domains for Outcome Measures in Behçet Syndrome". , Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). : 2020
Mustapha N, Barra L, Carette S, Cuthbertson D, Khalidi NA, Koening CL, Langford CA, McAlear CA, Milman N, Moreland LW, Monach PA, Seo P, Specks U, Sreih AG, Ytterberg SY, Merkel PA, Pagnoux C; "Efficacy of leflunomide in the treatment of vasculitis". , Clin Exp Rheumatol: 2020
Schnappauf O, Sampaio Moura N, Aksentijevich I, Stoffels M, Ombrello AK, Hoffmann P, Barron K, Remmers EF, Hershfield M, Kelly SJ; NISC Comparative Sequencing Program, Cuthbertson D, Carette S, Chung SA, Forbess L, Khalidi NA, Koening CL, Langford CA, McAlear CA, Monach PA, Moreland L, Pagnoux C, Seo P, Springer JM, Sreih AG, Warrington KJ, Ytterberg SR, Kastner DL, Grayson PC, Merkel PA "Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium. Sequence-based screening of patients with idiopathic polyarteritis nodosa, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and microscopic polyangiitis for deleterious genetic variants in ADA2". , Arthritis Rheumatol: 2020