David Alan Fox, MD

Dr. Fox is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. Following internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 1985. Dr. Fox is Professor of Internal Medicine and, from 1990 to 2018, was Chief of the Division of Rheumatology. In addition, he co-directs the University of Michigan Clinical Autoimmunity Center of Excellence. In 2013, Dr. Fox became the Frederick G. L. Huetwell and William D. Robinson, M.D. Professor of Rheumatology. Dr. Foxs research focuses on defining and characterizing pathways of human T cell activation, determining the role of these pathways in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease, investigating T cell interactions with synovial fibroblasts, understanding the role of interleukin-17 in arthritis, and exploring novel approaches to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma. He is author of more than 230 scientific papers and book chapters and has served on the Editorial Board of Arthritis & Rheumatism, as an Associate Editor and Section Editor of the Journal of Immunology and as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. His published work has been cited more than 10,000 times. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Fox is also active in the clinical care of patients with rheumatic diseases and in teaching students and fellows in both clinical and research settings. Dr. Fox has been an ACR ()American College of Rheumatology) member since 1985, an ACR volunteer since 1991, and an ACR Master since 2018. He has been a member of 12 ACR and RRF committees and task forces and chaired the Publications Committee, Finance Committee, and Monitoring Committee. In 2011-2012, Dr. Fox later co-chaired the ACR Task Force on Academic Rheumatology. From 2007-2008, Dr. Fox served as the seventy-first President of the American College of Rheumatology and the sixth ACR President from the University of Michigan. Dr. Fox currently holds leadership positions in the Immune Tolerance Network and in the Biomarkers Consortium of the Foundation for the NIH.

Rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus

University of Michigan Health participates with most health insurance plans.

Research Tab Research in Dr. Fox's laboratory is directed at defining and characterizing pathways of human T cell activation, and the role of these pathways in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. One approach used has been to generate monoclonal antibodies against T lymphocyte populations from autoimmune lesions, for example, from synovial tissue and synovial fluid derived from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Antibodies are then screened for preferential reactivity with lesional T cells and for functional effects. Using this approach a number of novel T cell surface markers have been identified. The functional roles for these cell surface structures are under active investigation in the laboratory. New systems have been developed to study interactions between lymphocytes and tissue specific cells found in the joint, especially synovial fibroblasts. New monoclonal antibodies have been developed against RA synoviocytes to further investigate immunologic functions of these cells. Current work is focusing on CD13, CD6 and its novel ligand CD318, and inflammatory mediators that are citrullinated in the joint. This laboratory also studies the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis, and conducts mechanistic studies in the context of clinical trials of immunomodulatory agents for this condition.