Bob Friesel, Ph.D.

Robert Friesel, Ph.D. serves as the NPF Director of Research, where he oversees the National Psoriasis Foundation research grants and fellowships programs and the peer-reviewed Journal of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis®, leading innovation and collaboration for continued growth. He also plays a key role in contributing to the strategy for NPF-led research projects in support of the community and the NPF Strategic Plan.

Dr. Friesel received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He began his scientific career doing research for the American Red Cross, before moving to Maine to join the Center for Molecular Medicine at Maine Medical Center Research Institute as one of its founding members. He served as the Director of the Center for Molecular Medicine from 2003-2016. Dr. Friesel has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Maine Cancer Foundation. His research has focused on the molecular mechanisms of human disease, with an emphasis on cardiovascular and skeletal diseases. Dr. Friesel has published 80 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters. He has extensive peer review experience, reviewing for several journals and numerous grant review panels at NIH and the American Heart Association. He has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and held faculty appointments at The University of Maine and Tufts University School of Medicine.