Filemon K. Tan, MD, PhD

Biography

Dr. Tan completed his residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and served as Chief Medical Resident in the Department of Internal Medicine before completing the rheumatology fellowship program at UTHealth. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in 1998. His research interests included the contribution of genetic factors that influence susceptibility to autoimmune diseases such as lupus and scleroderma and the analysis of gene expression patterns in tissues and cells from patients with connective tissue diseases to discover biological pathways that are relevant to disease pathogenesis or act as potential biomarkers that help predict disease outcome. He was one of the Principal Investigators of the Center of Research Translation in Scleroderma at UTHealth. Dr. Tan was promoted to tenured Associate Professor of Medicine (with tenure) in 2004. He received the UTHealth Master Teacher Award in 2005 and is a recipient of multiple Dean’s Teaching Excellence awards (2005 to 2014). He was Program Director for the Rheumatology Fellowship from 2005 to 2018. He was elected to the Alpha Omega Medical Society in 2006 and was promoted to Professor of Medicine in 2010. He has held the Linda K. Finger Chair in Autoimmune and Connective Tissue Diseases since 2011. Dr. Tan is registered in musculoskeletal sonography (RMSK) by the American Registry for Diagnostic and Medical Sonography (ARDMS), and also holds the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Certification in Rheumatology (RhMSUSTM) designation from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). He directs the UT Physicians Rheumatology Clinic at the Texas Medical Center in Houston.