Targeting the Immune-Vascular Axis in Psoriasis
Principal Investigator: Matthew D. Vesely, M.D., Ph.D.
Institution: Yale University School of Medicine
Grant Mechanism: Discovery Grant
Funding Amount: $75,000
Project Start Date: August 1, 2025
Project End Date: July 31, 2026
Status: Active
Keywords:
Project Summary:
This research focuses on developing a new treatment for psoriasis by targeting blood vessel damage, a key contributor to chronic inflammation in the disease. In psoriasis, the blood vessels in the skin become abnormal, which fuels ongoing immune activation. While current therapies primarily address immune dysfunction, they do not directly repair vascular damage. This project explores a novel pathway that links immune and vascular responses, testing whether blocking it can reduce inflammation and restore healthy blood vessel function. If successful, it could lead to an innovative therapy that treats two major drivers of psoriatic disease—immune dysregulation and vascular dysfunction.
How will your project help improve the lives of the 125 million affected by psoriatic disease?
Psoriatic disease is driven by both immune system dysfunction and damaged blood vessels—yet current treatments focus almost entirely on immune pathways. This project aims to improve the lives of people with psoriatic disease by developing a new treatment that targets both inflammation and blood vessel damage. By targeting dysfunctional blood vessels, the therapy could not only reduce skin and joint symptoms but also address long-term complications like cardiovascular disease, offering hope for more effective, lasting relief.
Why is psoriatic disease research important to you, personally? What role will this award play in your research efforts or career development?
Psoriatic disease research is important to me because I see firsthand how deeply it affects my patients—not just their skin, but their overall health and quality of life. Many struggle with inflammation that resists current treatments or experience systemic complications like cardiovascular disease. As a physician-scientist, I’m driven to uncover new ways to help these individuals by addressing the underlying biology of the disease, not just its symptoms. This award from the National Psoriasis Foundation plays a critical role in advancing that mission. It enables me to explore a completely new therapeutic target that links vascular dysfunction and immune activation in psoriasis. The support will help generate the preclinical data needed to move this concept toward clinical trials, and it also provides momentum for my long-term goal of developing innovative, mechanism-based therapies for chronic inflammatory skin diseases.
Researcher Profile:
Dr. Matthew Vesely is a board-certified dermatologist and physician-scientist at Yale School of Medicine whose research focuses on the immunobiology of inflammatory skin diseases. He received his MD and PhD in Immunology from Washington University in St. Louis and completed dermatology residency and postdoctoral research training at Yale. His laboratory investigates immune checkpoint receptors and the vascular-immune interface in chronic skin conditions, including psoriasis and lupus. Dr. Vesely is the recipient of a NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award focused on targeting the immune inhibitory receptor VISTA in discoid lupus erythematosus. His research integrates spatial transcriptomics, preclinical models, and patient-derived tissue explants to understand and therapeutically target tissue-specific inflammation. As a 2025 Discovery Grant recipient from the National Psoriasis Foundation, Dr. Vesely is exploring the role of endothelial dysfunction and inflammation in psoriasis. His work aims to develop novel therapeutic strategies that address both immune and vascular drivers of psoriatic disease.