Alice B. Gottlieb, MD, PhD

Alice Bendix Gottlieb MD, PhD, medical director and clinical professor, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is a superb physician who has made a significant mark in the scientific fields of dermatology and rheumatology.   

After graduating from Brandeis University summa cum laude with honors in chemistry, Dr Gottlieb entered the combined MD/PhD program at The Rockefeller University-Cornell University Medical College, where she was one of the first women to be admitted into the program. She received her PhD from the Rockefeller University in 1979 followed by her MD at Cornell University Medical Center in 1980. Dr Gottlieb entered the New York Hospital for her internal medicine residency, which she completed in 1982, followed by a rheumatology fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery (completed in 1984), after which she returned to the New York Hospital for her dermatology residency (completed in 1993). D. Gottlieb founded the Tufts Dermatology Residency Program, which formally was shared with Boston University, and served as chair of the Department of Dermatology and dermatologist in chief of Tufts Medical Center. She also founded the Dermatology Division at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she served as professor of medicine, director of the Clinical Research Center, and founding director of the Psoriasis Center of Excellence. Before joining the Mount Sinai faculty, she was a professor of dermatology at New York Medical College in New York City.

Dr Gottlieb is an internationally recognized expert in the field of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Her research uses targeted immunobiologics as pathogenic probes, providing new understanding of the pathogenesis of psoriasis and providing the foundation for biologic drug development in these 2 debilitating diseases. Through a study she had published in The Lancet in 2001, Dr Gottlieb was the first to show the efficacy of tumor necrosis factor blockers as monotherapy for moderate to severe psoriasis. Her research led to multiple tumor necrosis factor blockers being US Food and Drug Administration approved for psoriasis, which revolutionized the care of patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. In addition, Dr Gottlieb was one of the first scientists to demonstrate that psoriasis is a T-cell–mediated disease. She showed that treatment with a T-cell–specific immunotoxin cleared psoriasis clinically and histologically. With her published studies and public presentations, she has been able to convince pharmaceutical companies to use psoriasis as their proof-of-concept disease when testing new immunomodulators that may decrease T-cell and dendritic cell cytokine production. So far, her research has affected drug development in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and transplantation.

Through her research, Dr Gottlieb has authored 465 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as The Lancet, the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Archives of Dermatology, the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, and The New England Journal of Medicine. Additionally, she has given 323 oral presentations at dermatology and rheumatology conferences in Asia, Europe, and the United States, as well as the US Food and Drug Administration and the National Academy of Sciences. 

In 2001, she was the recipient of the American Skin Association’s Psoriasis Research Achievement Award in recognition of her “important contributions to the scientific understanding of psoriasis.” In a survey of top psoriasis experts from around the world, Dr Gottlieb came in first place with 1506 first author citations. She continues her innovative clinical research at Mount Sinai. In addition to being a noteworthy researcher, she is also an exceptionally outstanding clinician and educator. She is triple boarded in dermatology, rheumatology, and internal medicine, making her one of only a handful of doctors in the United States to be certified in all 3 specialties. Her research has helped the numerous students, residents, and fellows she has trained, as well as the dermatologic community at large, who wants to understand how to diagnose and manage psoriatic arthritis. She is an excellent teacher, which is why it is no surprise that she has won the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of Dermatology at Tufts University Medical School/Tufts Medical Center. She has also received multiple Excellence in Teaching awards from the Department of Dermatology at Mount Sinai. In 2016, she received the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) Outstanding Educator in Psoriatic Disease Award. In 2018, she was honored with an award from the NPF for her leadership in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis research and care. Dr Gottlieb is the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of Dermatology at Tufts University School of Medicine/Tufts Medical Center, an honorary membership in Alpha Omega Alpha in recognition of medical student teaching, a Research Mentorship Award from the internal medicine house staff, and a Mentorship Award from the American Chemical Society for mentoring minority high school students in bench and clinical research. 

She was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Dermatology for 2011 to 2015. She is a member of the American Dermatologic Association and others. Over the course of her illustrious career, she has held many important leadership positions, including the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Dermatology and the Women’s Dermatologic Society, and chairman of the Networking Committee of the Women’s Dermatologic Society, as well serving as a Medical Advisory Board member and editor in chief of the Journal of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis, which is a physicians’ journal of the NPF. In 2015, she was awarded honorary membership into the American Academy of Dermatology for her exceptional leadership and service.   

Dr Gottlieb has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery and American Academy of Dermatology, the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, past editor in chief of the Journal of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis and Editor, Dermatology Section of Clinical Immunology. She is also an elected member of the Association of Professors of Dermatology.

She is the founder and president of the International Dermatology Outcome Measures (IDEOM) group. Founded in 2013, this 501c3 non-profit, consortium of patients, physicians, pharmaceutical scientists, and other stakeholders is dedicated to bringing outcome measures to dermatologic clinical research and practice that satisfy the needs of all stakeholders. She is on the Steering Committee of GRAPPA, the group devoted the research in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. She is a councilor of the International Psoriasis Council.

Dr Gottlieb practices at the Mount Sinai Beth Israel, where she puts her patients first and she continues her innovative clinical research in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, hidradenitis suppurativa, vitiligo, and other immune-mediated disorders. She continues to enjoy her mentoring and teaching of the dermatology residents, young faculty, and medical students.