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Kathryn S. Torok, MD

  • Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical and Translational Science
  • Director, Pediatric Scleroderma Clinic, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
  • Co-Director, Pediatric Craniofacial Scleroderma Clinic, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Torok is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.   She began her career in pediatric rheumatology as a Fellow at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in 2006.  Upon completion of her fellowship, she stayed at Children's and became an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, mentored by internationally recognized clinical and bench experts in the adult scleroderma sphere, Thomas Medsger, MD and Carol Feghali-Bostwick, PhD.  She helped develop and now serves as director of the Scleroderma Clinic, which provides treatment for children with localized and systemic scleroderma, with national and international consultations. 

Along with treating patients, Torok has been involved in numerous research projects.   She is the principal investigator of the National Registry for Childhood-Onset Scleroderma (NRCOS), which serves as a national resource of longitudinal pediatric scleroderma data. Torok was promoted to Associate Professor of Pediatrics in 2019 and also holds a secondary appointment as Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). Torok is a leader in the field and serves as one of the Pediatric Scleroderma Steering Committee members within the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease Research Alliance (CARRA).   Most North American clinical and translational research studies in pediatric rheumatic diseases funnel through CARRA.  The Torok Lab at the University of Pittsburgh has been designated as the main biorepository site for any pediatric localized scleroderma and systemic sclerosis projects associated with CARRA, serving as a resource for both Torok’s investigations and other current and future pediatric scleroderma researchers/collaborators. 

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • Pennsylvania Medical Society, 2000-Present
  • American Medical Association, 2000-Present
  • American Academy of Pediatrics, 2004-Present
  • American College of Rheumatology, 2006-Present
  • Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance, 2007-Present
  • Society for Pediatric Research, 2015-Present

Education & Training

  • BS, Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, 2000
  • MD, The Pennsylvania State University, 2004
  • Residency in Pediatrics, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2004-2006
  • Certificate in Fundamentals in Bench Research, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2007
  • Certificate in Clinical Research, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009
  • Fellowship in Pediatric Rheumatology, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2006-2009
  • Certificate in Leadership in Health Science, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2016

Selected Publications

Zigler CK, Jacobe H, Ardalan K, Coles TM, Lane S, Schollaert KL, & Torok KS. The importance of development standards for anchoring vignettes: An illustrative example from health-related quality of life in pediatric localized scleroderma. Quality of Life Research. 2020 Jul 11; Doi: 10.1007/s11136-020-02575-6 PMID: 32654054.

Mirizio E, Tabib T, Wang X, Chen W, Liu C, Lafyatis R, Jacobe H, Torok KS. Single-cell transcriptome conservation in a comparative analysis of fresh and cryopreserved human skin tissue: pilot in localized scleroderma. Arthritis Res Ther. 2020 Nov 9;22(1):263. doi: 10.1186/s13075-020-02343-4. PMID: 33168063; PMCID: PMC7654179.

Foeldvari I, Klotsche J, Hinrichs B, Helmus N, Kasapcopur O, Adrovic A, Sztajnbok F, Terreri MT, Anton J, Smith V, Katsicas M, Kostik M, Vasquez-Canizares N, Avcin T, Feldman B, Janarthanan M, Santos MJ, Sawhney S, Schonenberg-Meinema D, Sifuentes-Giraldo WA, Alexeeva E, Appenzeller S, Battagliotti C, Berntson L, Bica B, Costa Reis P, Eleftheriou D, Kallinich T, Lehman T, Marrani E, Minden K, Nielsen S, Nuruzzaman F, Patwardhan A, Khubchandani R, Stanevicha V, Uziel Y, Torok KS. Under detection of interstitial lung disease in juvenile systemic sclerosis (jSSc). Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020 Nov 3. doi: 10.1002/acr.24499. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33141441.

Li SC, Torok KS, Ishaq SS, Buckley M, Edelheit B, Ede KC, Liu C, Rabinovich CE. Preliminary Evidence on Abatacept Safety and Efficacy in Refractory Juvenile Localized Scleroderma. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2020 Dec 28:keaa873. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keaa873. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33369667.

Prasad S, Zhu JL, Schollaert-Fitch K, Torok KS, Jacobe HT. An Evaluation of the Performance of Current Morphea Subtype Classifications. JAMA Dermatol. 2021 Feb 17:e205809. doi: 10.1001 /jamadermatol.2020.5809. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33595618; PMCID: PMC7890441.

Li SC, Higgins GC, Chen M, Torok KS, Rabinovich CE, Stewart K, Laxer RM, Pope E, Haines KA, Punaro M, O'Neil KM. Extracutaneous Involvement Is Common and Associated with Prolonged Disease Activity and Greater Impact in Juvenile Localized Scleroderma. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 Mar 12:keab238. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab238. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33711155. 

Foeldvari I, Klotsche J, Hinrichs B, Helmus N, Kasapcopur O, Adrovic A, Sztajnbok F, Terreri MT, Anton J, Smith V, Katsicas M, Kostik M, Vasquez-Canizares N, Avcin T, Feldman B, Janarthanan M, Santos MJ, Sawhney S, Schonenberg-Meinema D, Sifuentes-Giraldo WA, Alexeeva E, Appenzeller S, Battagliotti C, Berntson L, Bica B, Costa Reis P, Eleftheriou D, Kallinich T, Lehman T, Marrani E, Minden K, Nielsen S, Nuruzzaman F, Patwardhan A, Khubchandani R, Stanevicha V, Uziel Y, Torok KS. Under detection of interstitial lung disease in juvenile systemic sclerosis (jSSc). Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020 Nov 3. doi: 10.1002/acr.24499. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33141441.

Schutt C, Mirizio E, Salgado C, Reyes-Mugica M, Wang X, Chen W, Grunwaldt L, Schollaert KL, Torok KS. Transcriptomic evaluation of pediatric localized scleroderma skin with histological and clinical correlation. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2021 Apr 12. doi: 10.1002/art.41758. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33844442.

Foeldvari I, Klotsche J, Kasapcopur O, Adrovic A, Terreri MT, Sakamoto AP, Stanevicha V, Sztajnbok F, Anton J, Feldman B, Alexeeva E, Katsicas M, Smith V, Avcin T, Marrani E, Kostik M, Lehman T, Sifuentes-Giraldo WA, Vasquez-Canizares N, Appenzeller S, Janarthanan M, Moll M, Nemcova D, Patwardhan A, Santos MJ, Sawhney S, Schonenberg-Meinema D, Battagliotti C, Berntson L, Bica B, Brunner J, Costa-Reis P, Eleftheriou D, Harel L, Horneff G, Kaiser D, Kallinich T, Lazarevic D, Minden K, Nielsen S, Nuruzzaman F, Uziel Y, Helmus N, Torok KS. Differences sustained between diffuse and limited forms of juvenile systemic sclerosis in expanded international cohort. www.juvenile-scleroderma.com. Arthritis Care Res(Hoboken). 2021 Mar 30. doi: 10.1002/acr.24609. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33787070.

Mirizio M, Liu C, Yan Q, Waltermire J, Mandel R, Schollaert K, Konnikova L, Wang X, Chen W, and Torok KS. Genetic Signatures from RNA sequencing of Pediatric Localized Scleroderma (LS) Skin. Front. Pediatr. 2021. doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.669116
Glaser D and Torok KS. March 2021.  Evaluation and Treatment of Pediatric Localized Scleroderma: Pearls and Updates. Current Treatment Options in Rheumatology 7(2):1-20; DOI:10.1007/s40674-021-00170-5

View MyNCBI Bibliography » 

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Academic and Research Interests

  • Pediatric scleroderma
  • Localized scleroderma
  • Systemic sclerosis
  • Biomarkers
  • RNA sequencing
  • Clinical outcome measures
  • Quality of life measures
  • Biorepository

Research Grants

Serum cytokine profiles in localized scleroderma, The Nancy Taylor Foundation for Chronic Diseases, Inc., 2010-2021.

NIH 1R01AR073516-01A1, Refining outcome measures through observational cohorts to advance trials in localized scleroderma, 2019-2022.

NIH 1R56AR075761-01, Defining dysregulated immune and fibrotic pathways in morphea, 2019-2021.

NIH 5P50AR060780-09, Pilot study in juvenile onset systemic sclerosis:  Defining the cellular and transcriptomic differences between pre- and post-autologous stem cell transplant, 2021.

NIH 1R01AR078560-01, Ancillary studies to define dysregulated immune and fibrotic pathways in a well-characterized morphea cohort, 2021-2024.

Defining the effects of autologous stem cell transplant on the cellular and transcriptomic landscape of juvenile onset systemic sclerosis, U.S. Department of Defense Scleroderma Research Program – Idea Development Award, 2021-2024.

Facilitating international, multi-disciplinary collaborations in pediatric localized scleroderma research: International validation of outcome measures, Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA), 2021-2023.

Identifying Current Assessment and Treatment Strategies in Juvenile Systemic Sclerosis: An International Effort to Improve Patient Outcomes, Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA), 2021-2023.