Kevin Deane, MD, PhD

 

A variety of autoimmune diseases have a ‘preclinical’ period of development where blood or other tests can show abnormalities in the immune system sometimes years prior to someone feeling ‘sick’. Dr. Deane’s research is focused primarily on the preclinical period of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

 

Dr. Deane is currently a principal or co-investigator in several multi-centered studies investigating how genetics and environmental factors influence the early development of RA. He also has special interests in the role of the lung and other mucosal sites in the development of RA.​

 

Dr. Deane is also the Principal Investigator on an NIH-sponsored clinical trial for the prevention of RA that is entitled ‘Strategy for the Prevention of RA, or ‘StopRA’. For this trial, individuals (including relatives of people who have RA) will be recruited who have blood markers suggesting they are at high-risk of developing RA themselves within several years. These individuals will then be given a drug to see if RA can be stopped before even the first signs of arthritis develop. Dr. Deane and his team expect that this trial will be a large part of a major change in how we approach RA and other autoimmune diseases where instead of just treating these diseases once people become sick, we will instead try and prevent them during an asymptomatic phase. This would be much like how cardiac disease is managed today where risk factors for disease such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes are controlled in order to prevent future heart attacks. Enrollment for this trial began in early 2016. If you would like to learn more, please visit the StopRA website at www.stop-ra.org, or contact us at email StopRA@UCDenver.edu or phone 303-724-8330.

 

Dr. Deane’s clinical activities include the evaluation and treatment of a wide variety of rheumatic diseases, with a special focus on rheumatoid arthritis, and management of the non-thrombotic manifestations of the anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome. If you’d like to see him in clinic, please call 720-848-7700 or visit our practice website​ for more information.

 

Besides his work in rheumatic research and clinical care, Dr. Deane’s teaching activities include education of medical students, rheumatology fellows, and residents in internal medicine, orthopedics and physical medicine and rehabilitation in the evaluation and treatment of rheumatic diseases. Additionally, he teaches medical students regarding the pathophysiology of rheumatic diseases as well as courses on basic biostatistics in medical research, and graduate students in grant writing through the University of Colorado’s Graduate School.