Proceedings of the 2018 GRAPPA Collaborative Research Network Meeting

The Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA)-Collaborative Research Network (CRN) intends to launch and secure funding for 3 pilot projects related to psoriatic disease, psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and cutaneous psoriasis (PsC). The first pilot project, a PsA Biomarkers for Joint Damage (BioDAM) pilot, will seek to determine the independent predictive ability of serum biomarkers for joint damage in PsA. The second pilot project will aim to identify predictors of the development of PsA among patients with PsC. The third pilot project will aim to identify biomarkers that predict treatment response in PsA and PsC. These pilot projects will prompt the development of clinical protocols to operate across participating centers, lead to the development of standard operating procedures for the collection and transport of biosamples across international borders, and begin to establish administrative and managerial structures for the CRN. The CRN hopes that the successful completion and research outputs of these 3 pilot projects will demonstrate the CRN's value to prospective collaborators and sponsors and thereby secure sustainable longterm funding.