About

Dana D. DiRenzo, MD, MHS, is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine specializing in Rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. He serves as the Chief of Rheumatology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. His clinical expertise includes inflammatory arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, and musculoskeletal ultrasound. His research focuses on patient-reported outcomes, quality of life, and mindfulness in rheumatologic conditions. Dr. DiRenzo has contributed to understanding the patient perspective in Sjögren's disease, the impact of pain on daily activities in inflammatory myopathies, and the effects of psychedelics on cytokine production. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology at Bucknell University in 2009, earned his MD from Temple University School of Medicine in 2013, and obtained a Master of Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2018.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Physical therapy
• Internal medicine
• Physical medicine and rehabilitation
• Pathology

Selected publications

• Patients’ perspectives of living with Sjögren disease: A systematic review of qualitative studies from the OMERACT Sjögren disease working group

  Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism · 2026-01-22 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Musculoskeletal Ultrasound

  2025-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Patients’ Perspectives of Living with Sjögren Disease: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies from the OMERACT Sjögren Disease Working Group

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Kidney Disease in Sarcoidosis, Sjögren's Disease, and IgG4-Related Disease

  2024-12-08

  book-chapter

  Inflammatory rheumatic diseases are associated with bone loss and increased rates of fracture, including factors related to immunologic phenomena that drive bone loss, but also due to the use of glucocorticoids, leading to glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). The occurrence of renal disease in patients with these conditions is another risk factor for poor bone health due to the condition known as chronic kidney disease–metabolic bone disease (CKD-MBD). The focus of this chapter is on the bone health evaluation and management of patients with concomitant rheumatic disease and CKD-MBD. Traditional bone health assessment tools are often used, including dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, fracture risk assessment, serum bone turnover biomarkers, and other laboratory evaluations to investigate secondary causes of poor bone health, although the value of these tools is only partially established in CKD-MBD. Currently available osteoporosis medications have been used in this patient population to reduce fracture risk. The data supporting fracture risk management is limited, and there are no FDA-approved medications for this population and no randomized controlled trials indicating that bone-targeted agents can prevent fractures in patients with CKD-MBD. There are guidelines that have embraced the presently available evaluation and management tools despite the many unanswered questions about efficacy and safety. Thus, the management of these patients requires interactive participation among patients, primary care physicians, rheumatologists, and nephrologists.

  PublisherDOI

• The Sjögren's Working Group: The 2023 OMERACT meeting and provisional domain generation

  Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism · 2024-01-22 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Construct validity of PROMIS pain interference, fatigue, and physical function as patient-reported outcomes in adults with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: An international study from the OMERACT myositis working group

  Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism · 2024-08-10 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in patients with cancer and pre-existing systemic sclerosis

  Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism · 2024-05-03 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Are ultrasound salivary parenchymal lesions more severe in primary Sjögren patients with a longer disease duration? A cross-sectional study

  Lara D. Veeken · 2024-12-19

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVES: Salivary gland ultrasound (SGUS) has an interest in primary Sjögren's disease (pSD) for diagnosis, but the evolution of parenchymal lesions over time is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the severity of ultrasound abnormalities in relation to pSD duration from the time of buccal dryness onset. METHODS: In this cross-sectional international multicentre study, patients with pSD according to the 2002 or 2016 ACR/EULAR classification criteria were included. Parenchymal abnormalities were classified according to the semiquantitative score as defined by OMERACT. Patients were separated into four groups (Group A: <5 years, Group B: 5-9 years, Group C: 10-20 years and Group D: >20 years from the onset of buccal dryness). The association between disease duration groups and SGUS lesions was quantified in terms of odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: A total of 247 patients were consecutively included between May 2019 and February 2022. Eighty-nine percent of patients had a focus score ≥1/4 mm2, and 85% had positive anti-Ro/SSA. pSD duration was associated with a pathological OMERACT score (score 2 or 3): OR for 5-year duration: 1.23 [95% CI 1.04; 1.47], P = 0.038. Considering each US item, the only statistical association with pSD duration was found regarding the presence of hyperechoic bands (25% or more): OR for 5-year duration 1.18 [95% CI 1.03; 1.36], P = 0.038), independent of an older age. CONCLUSION: pSD duration was associated with the presence of hyperechoic bands, but not with hypoechoic areas, suggesting a progressive fibro-adipose evolution.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Impact of Psilocybin on Peripheral Cytokine Production

  Psychedelic Medicine · 2024-02-28 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Background: Psilocybin is a psychedelic drug with potential therapeutic effects in patients with mood and substance use disorders. Little is known about its impact on the immune system. Methods: Multiplex immunoassay pro-inflammatory cytokine panels (Meso-Scale Discovery, Rockville, MD) were used to examine the serum from participants in three separate randomized controlled clinical trials (randomized controlled trials [RCTs]) wherein a range of doses of psilocybin were administered (methods reported previously). Participants represented a range of clinical histories including those with no-known health problems/long-term meditation practice ( n = 35), depression ( n = 25), anxiety, and cancer (various types; n = 31). Linear mixed models with random effects for each participant were fit to determine relative cytokine levels both immediately before and at various time points after psilocybin administration, adjusted for multiple comparisons. Serum extracted during a waitlist, where applicable, was not included. Results: Sera from 91 participants were included from our three prior RCTs. In our linear models of pooled data, sera collected ≤1-week postpsilocybin revealed increased levels of interleukin (IL)-8 (β = 0.164, 95% confidence interval [0.10 to 0.23]; p = 0.042). At ≥4-week time points compared to baseline, there were no changes in cytokine levels. In our linear models of individual studies, no changes in cytokine levels at each time point were observed. Conclusion: This preliminary study suggests that a transient increase in cytokine production ≤1-week postpsilocybin may be found, although not consistently across patient populations. More broadly, peripheral cytokine production is possibly altered by psilocybin administration. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01988311.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Reliability Exercise of Ultrasound Salivary Glands in Sjögren’s Disease: An International Web Training Initiative

  Rheumatology and Therapy · 2024-02-19 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Major salivary gland ultrasonography (SGUS) demonstrated its good metric properties as an outcome measure for diagnosing primary Sjögren’s disease (SD). The objective was to assess SGUS reliability among sonographers with different levels of experience, using web training. Sonographers from expert centers participated in the reliability exercise. Before exercises, training was done by videoconferencing. Reliability of the two most experienced sonographers (MES) was assessed and then compared to other sonographers. Intra-reader and inter-reader reliability of SGUS items were assessed by computing Cohen’s κ coefficients. All sets were read twice by all 14 sonographers within a 4-month interval. Intra-reader reliability of MES was almost perfect for homogeneity, substantial for Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) scoring system (OMERACTss). Among LES (less experienced sonographers), reliability was moderate to almost perfect for homogeneity, fair to moderate for OMERACTss, and fair to almost perfect for binary OMERACTss. Inter-reader reliability between MES was almost perfect for homogeneity, substantial for diagnosis, moderate for OMERACTss, and substantial for binary OMERACTss. Compared to MES, reliabilities of LES were moderate to almost perfect for both homogeneity and diagnosis, only fair to moderate for OMERACTss, but increased in binary OMERACTss. Videoconferencing training sessions in an international reliability exercise could be an excellent tool to train experienced and less-experienced sonographers. SGUS homogeneity items is useful to distinguish normal from abnormal salivary glands parenchyma independently of diagnosis. Structural damage evaluations by OMERACT scoring system is a new comprehensive score to diagnose patients with SD and could be easily used by sonographers in a binary method. The goal of this project was to evaluate the reliability of salivary gland ultrasonography in patients with Sjögren’s disease using online training in an international study. Currently, salivary gland ultrasonography is routinely used only by European expert sonographers but few studies have studied intra-reader and inter-reader reliability, among less experienced international sonographers. Many salivary gland ultrasonography scoring systems are used today, but it is difficult to know how to put them into practice. Online training on an international level allows a significant number of practitioners to use the different scoring systems including the latest OMERACT (Outcome Measures in Rheumatology) score, which is simple and comprehensive. There were two phases to this project: A first step consisted in a training session by videoconferencing to all sonographers, the second step was an inter and intra-reader reliability exercises. The results of our study showed satisfactory results, especially for parenchyma homogeneity. Regarding the comprehensive OMERACT score, the results are quite disparate, notably for less experienced sonographers and could be explained by this new comprehensive scoring system. However, when binary OMERACT score (minor damage versus major damage of salivary gland parenchyma (OMERACT score 0–1 vs. 2–3) was employed, reliability increased and can be very useful for novice sonographers in routine practice because it does not require scoring of all the pathological features in Sjögren’s disease. This study highlights the need to train non-experts interested in this field and demonstrates the potential for beginners to quickly become experts.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Clifton O. Bingham

  Johns Hopkins University

  20 shared

• Marjolein Visser

  Amsterdam Neuroscience

  15 shared

• Benjamin A. Fisher

  University of Birmingham

  13 shared

• Christopher A. Mecoli

  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  12 shared

• Malin Regardt

  Karolinska University Hospital

  10 shared

• Mark Maybury

  University of Birmingham

  10 shared

• Helene Alexanderson

  Karolinska Institutet

  10 shared

• Patrick H. Finan

  University of Virginia

  9 shared

Education

• Fellowship, Rheumatology

  Johns Hopkins Hospital

  2019

• MHS, Graduate Training Program in Clinical Investigation

  Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  2018

• Internal Medicine Residency

  University of Maryland Medical Center

  2016

• MD

  Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University

  2013

• BS

  Bucknell University

  2009