Skip to Main Content

Fotios Koumpouras, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology)
DownloadHi-Res Photo

Additional Titles

Director of Education and Training, Rheumatology

Director Yale Lupus Program

About

Titles

Associate Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology)

Director of Education and Training, Rheumatology; Director Yale Lupus Program

Biography

My expertise is in the diagnosis and clinical care of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as well as in the conduct of clinical trials. My initial research interests have evolved from laboratory-based investigation (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1997; 94:7566-7571) to an academic clinical career focused on SLE and rheumatology education. My early professional experience as medical director of Dr. Manzi’s Lupus Center of Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh put me at the center of managing multidisciplinary clinical services while engaging in clinical research and clinical trials. One of these lead to a new therapy for SLE in 2011. As Director of the Yale Lupus Program, I lead a dedicated team focused on SLE care, research, and wellness. An off-shoot of the lupus program was the development the Yale rheumatology-dermatology clinic, which I founded. Also, I created a biobank from a well characterized cohort of patients with SLE that produced collaborative research in cardiac lupus, pathogenies of lupus, inflammasome biology, and others. Under my leadership, Yale is now part of every major clinical trial in SLE. I often provide advice for new SLE trials. I was asked to be part of the Executive Health Yale Medicine Program based on my expertise and reputation.

In 2019 I became Training Program Director and recently was elected to serve on the American College of Rheumatology Education grant study section and on the Committee on Training and Workforce issues where we hope to develop a resource for those transitioning into the role of Program Director. I leverage my skills as an academic clinician and disease subspecialist to develop outstanding next generation rheumatologists.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Investigative Fellowship
Yale University (2007)
Fellowship
Yale University School of Medicine (2006)
Chief Residency
Stony Brook University Hospital (2004)
Residency
Stony Brook University Hospital (2003)
MD
St. George’s University School of Medicine (2000)
BS
University at Albany (1994)

Research

Overview

My interest in science, immunology, and rheumatology has been long-standing. This initially became manifest during my college career when I engaged in basic science research exploring the role of heat-shock response in archaea bacteria responsible for bio-remediation of sludge wastewater. That experience at the Wadsworth Center in Albany New York taught me basic laboratory principles, DNA extraction, northern (RNA) blood analysis, ELISA, immunohistochemistry, bacterial cell culture, glassware care, critical analysis of results, and scientific writing. Following that experience, I worked on masking red cell antigens in search of a blood substitute, and gained experience with laboratory animal use, biochemistry, and hematology. My interest in immunology deepened during my residency when I focused on elucidating T-cell differentiation and tolerance as caused by dendritic-cell interactions by specific serum proteins in the laboratories of Drs. Berhane Ghebrehiwet, Santiago-Schwartz and Richard Kalish, University Hospital and Medical Center, School of Medicine at Stony Brook, SUNY.

As a post-graduate fellow, I explored the cellular and molecular mechanisms of inflammation using a collagen-induced arthritis model and explored certain herbal effects on inflammation.

I made the leap to a clinical research career after fellowship and quickly focused on systemic lupus erythematosus, a disease under current investigation in Dr. Craft's laboratory at Yale. I launched my clinical research career after I joined Susan Manzi’s and Joe Ahearn's group at the University of Pittsburgh, internationally recognized lupus clinical researchers. They served as role models and mentors, from whom I acquired skills in the clinical assessment of lupus and the implementation of clinical research, both in the form of clinical trials and outcomes research. Under them, I was involved with several clinical trials, including vitamin D in SLE, combination therapies for lupus nephritis and lymphostat-B (belimumab) in treatment of SLE. Belimumab was the first new medication approved for SLE in over 50 years.I was site PI for several BLISS trials investigating belimumab for the treatment of SLE. This was the first drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of SLE in over 50 years. I was involved with the SABLE study, which follows SLE patients currently being treated with belimumab. I have been involved in research studying the effect of vitamin D in SLE. Collaboration with the Immune Tolerance Network led to me to being site PI for the abatacept in combination with cyclophosphamide for the treatment of lupus nephritis trial. I developed particular expertise in renal and neurologic SLE, pregnant rheumatic disease, and anti-phospholipid syndrome. I have used my skills to bring forth the clinical trial program at Yale for SLE, and have many active clinical trials underway.

Novel molecular therapeutic targets and new biomarkers of disease expression are necessary to advance clinical lupus care. At Yale, we have discovered a novel activation signal in human SLE, pSTAT4, a transcription factor necessary for the development of naïve CD4+ T follicular helper cells. To validate this finding in humans, I established the Yale Rheumatology bio-repository in 2016. This allows real time data capture while patients are enrolled into the longitudinal study during clinic visits.

We are a part of the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN) a division of the Lupus Research Alliance (LRA), and evaluate many new therapies for the treatment of lupus as part of a collaborative effort to accelerate the discovery of new therapies for systemic lupus.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Biomarkers; Education, Graduate; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic; Lupus Nephritis; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Therapeutics

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Fotios Koumpouras's published research.

Publications

2024

2023

2021

2020

2019

Clinical Trials

Current Trials

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    American College of Rheumatology

  • activity

    Lupus Foundation of America

  • activity

    Medical Image Mystery as a Teaching Tool

  • honor

    Patients' Choice 5th Anniversary Award

  • honor

    YOU ROCK Award

Clinical Care

Overview

Fotios Koumpouras, MD, director of the Yale Lupus Program, specializes in the treatment and management of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and related disease. He also sees patients with difficult-to-diagnose rheumatic diseases, including ones with dermatologic manifestations. These disorders can cause damage, pain, and inflammation in any part of the body. “These diseases are complex and require up-to-date and specialized knowledge as well as medical experience to recognize and treat them appropriately, which in turn can have tremendously positive impacts on people’s lives,” he says.

When he sees a new patient, Dr. Koumpouras likes to “find out exactly what is going on and get it treated. Knowing is half the battle," he says. Many of his patients travel long distances to receive their care with Dr. Koumpouras and at Yale. “Having telemedicine as an option has really helped many of my patients continue their care even though they live far away or out of state,” he says.

An assistant professor of medicine (rheumatology) at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Koumpouras currently heads up several clinical trials to evaluate promising medications for patients with lupus. This offers patients access to cutting-edge clinical therapeutics under investigation. “I have worked diligently to develop a clinical trial portfolio that addresses the many facets of SLE disease, including trials focused on pain, or rash, or kidney disease, for example,” he says. “Being part of the Lupus Clinical Investigator Network places us among top-flight lupus centers that are focused on lupus care.” In addition, he works together with the basic and translational laboratories at Yale to aid the efforts in accelerating discoveries in lupus disease. These laboratories together with the clinical program, form the foundation of the Yale Lupus Program.

There is no cure for lupus, but he hopes this work will lead to finding a cure and better treatment options for patients.

Clinical Specialties

Rheumatology

Fact Sheets

Board Certifications

  • Rheumatology

    Certification Organization
    AB of Internal Medicine
    Latest Certification Date
    2018
    Original Certification Date
    2006

Yale Medicine News

Get In Touch

Contacts

Locations

  • Yale Rheumatology, Allergy & Immunology

    Academic Office

    The Anlyan Center

    300 Cedar Street, Fl 5, Rm S-525

    New Haven, CT 06519

  • Patient Care Locations

    Are You a Patient? View this doctor's clinical profile on the Yale Medicine website for information about the services we offer and making an appointment.

Events

Nov 20246Wednesday
Nov 202413Wednesday
Nov 202420Wednesday
Nov 202427Wednesday