Ellen M. Ginzler, MD, MPH

Dr. Ellen Ginzler earned her medical degree in 1969 from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. She completed her internship and residency at King’s County Hospital and Bellevue Hospital in New York. She completed her fellowship training in rheumatology at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center, joining the faculty in the Department of Medicine in 1974.  In 1981 she was awarded a fellowship in public health from the Milbank Memorial Fund, leading to a Masters in Public Health in 1983 from the Yale University School of Epidemiology and Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut.

Dr. Ginzler is a leader in medical education and one of Downstate’s finest teachers. Her history of service to the institution spans more than 50 years. Under her guidance as Chief of Rheumatology as of 1991, the division gained international acclaim for its superb training and research. In 2008 she was named Distinguished Teaching Professor of Medicine at SUNY.

In addition to her contributions to teaching and administration, Dr. Ginzler has compiled a stellar record of clinical research and scholarship. She is internationally known as an expert on systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis, an autoimmune disorder that causes painful inflammation and damage to many parts of the body and affects more than one million people in this country.  She was named the 2015 American College of Rheumatology Distinguished Clinical Investigator. In 2019 she was named the Department of Medicine’s Vice Chair for Research.

To date, Dr. Ginzler has received more than $3 million in extramural funding for lupus research. As principal investigator of an FDA Orphan Products Program grant to assess the efficacy and tolerability of two drug treatments for lupus nephritis, she headed the largest multicenter, investigator-initiated trial ever carried out for lupus. The results, published as the lead article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005, have changed the paradigm for treating lupus nephritis.

Although Dr. Ginzler retired from her full-time faculty position and Chief of Rheumatology in July 2023, she continues to precept in the Arthritis Clinic and mentor rheumatology fellows, residents, and medical students in their clinical research projects. She also continues to direct the student-run Patient Navigator Program, whose aim is to improve continuity of medical care by pairing medical students with at risk patients in the Arthritis and Dermatology clinics.

Education:

• Undergraduate: Bryn Mawr College
• Advanced Degree: Yale University School of Epidemiology & Public Health
• Medical School: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
• Internship: Kings County Hospital
• Residency: Kings County Hospital and Bellevue Hospital
• Fellowship: SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Research Interests:

• Systemic lupus erythematosus

• Lupus nephritis

• Ginzler EM, Nicastri AD, Chen C-K, et al: Progression of mesangial and focal to diffuse lupus nephritis. New Engl J Med 291:693-696, 1974
• Gladman D, Ginzler E, Goldsmith C, Fortin P, Liang M, Urowitz M, Bacon P, Bombardieri S, Hanly J, Hay E, Isenberg D, Jones J, Nived O, Petri M, Richter M, Sanchez-Guerrero J, Snaith M, Sturfelt G, Symmons D: The development and initial validation of the SLICC/ACR damage index for SLE. Arthritis Rheum 39:363-369, 1996.
• Ginzler EM, Dooley MA, Aranow C, Kim MY, Buyon J, Merrill JT, et al: Mycophenolate mofetil or intravenous cyclophosphamide for lupus nephritis. New Engl J Med 353: 2219-2228, 2005.
• Ginzler EM, Dvorkina 0: Infections in systemic lupus erythematosus. In Dubois' Lupus Erythematosus, 7th edition, ed. DJ Wallace, BH Hahn. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA, 2007.
• Furie R, Stohl W, Ginzler EM, et al. Biologic activity and safety of belimumab, a neutralizing anti-B-lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) monoclonal antibody: phase I trial in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2008; 10:R109
• Appel GB, Contreras G, Dooley MA, Ginzler EM, et al. Mycophenolate mofetil versus cyclophosphamide for induction treatment of lupus nephritis. A randomized trial. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2009:20:1103-1112
• Ginzler E, Wofsy D, Isenberg D, et al. Nonrenal activity following mycophenolate mofetil or intravenous cyclophosphamide as induction treatment for lupus nephritis. Arthritis Rheum 2010; 62:211-221
• Furie RA, Petri AM, Wallace DJ, Ginzler EM, et al. Novel evidence-based systemic lupus erythematosus responder index. Arthritis Care & Res 2009; 61:1143-1151
• Isenberg D, Appel GB, Contreras G, Dooley MA, Ginzler EM et al. Influence of race/ethnicity on response to lupus nephritis treatment: the ALMS study. Rheumatology 2010; 49:128-140
• Ginzler E, Wofsy D, Isenberg D, et al. Nonrenal activity following mycophenolate mofetil or intravenous cyclophosphamide as induction treatment for lupus nephritis. Arthritis Rheum 2010; 62:211-221
• Radhakrishnan J, Moutzouris D-A, Ginzler EM, et al. Mycophenolate mofetil and intravenous cyclophosphamide are similar as induction therapy for class V lupus nephritis. Kidney Int 2010; 77:152-160
• Dooley AM, Jayne D, Ginzler EM, et al. Mycophenolate versus azathioprine as maintenance therapy for lupus nephritis. New Engl J Med 2011; 365:1886-1895
• Ginzler EM, Wax S, Rajeswaran A, et al. Atacicept in combination with MMF and corticosteroids in lupus nephritis: results of a prematurely terminated trial. Arthritis Res & Ther 2012; 14:R33.
• Ginzler EM, Wallace DJ, Merrill JT, et al. Disease control and safety of belimumab plus standard therapy over 7 years in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. J Rheumatol 2014; 41:300-309.

Volumes Edited:

• Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Volume 36, February 2010. Ginzler EM, ed.
• Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Volume 40, August 2014, Ginzler EM and Dooley MA, eds.