Professor of Medicine
Director, Division of Connective Tissue Diseases
(Rheumatology), Department of Medicine
UT Health Science Center
apostlethwai@utmem.edu
Dr. Postlethwaite is a native of West Virginia and earned his undergraduate degree from West Virginia University in Morgantown,WV. After receiving his MD from Cornell University Medical College in New York City, he completed his internship and a year of residency training in Internal Medicine at Tulane Division Charity Hospital in New Orleans. After serving two years in the US Army Medical Corps as a Captain in South Vietnam and as a Major stateside, he completed his residency and a Rheumatology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Postlethwaite joined the faculty of UTHSC in 1973, where he rose to the rank of Professor of Medicine with Tenure and became Director of the Division of Connective Tissue Diseases in 1985. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation ("Young Turks") and is a Master of the American College of Rheumatology.
Dr. Postlethwaite has published extensively in the area of fibroblast and monocyte chemotaxis, cytokine modulation of inflammation, immune tolerance to oral autoantigen and fibroblast function. He is an internationally recognized expert on these topics. He has a successful record of continuous grant support from the Federal Government and private foundations in these areas. Currently he is a principle investigator on three peer-reviewed federal grants. He has served on numerous editorial boards and grant reviews for the NIH, Department of Veterans Affairs and private foundations such as the National Scleroderma Foundation and the National Arthritis Foundation.
Chief's Message
Welcome to the website for the Division of Connective Tissue Diseases (Rheumatology) at UT Health Science Center. Our Division has a long history of research in the biological properties of collagen, fibroblast biology, inflammation, immunoregulation, animal models of collagen-induced autoimmune arthritis and clinical research in rheumatic diseases. The rodent model of type II collagen-induced arthritis was discovered and developed at the Memphis VAMC and the UT Health Science Center and is used worldwide as a model for rheumatoid arthritis, with over 25,000 articles published on this topic. Through a 32 year history of continual funding, the NIH T-32 Training Grant originally headed by Dr. Andrew Kang and since 1984 by Dr. Postlethwaite, successful physician scientists have been recruited and trained with an excellent track record of obtaining research funding. The Division holds a Department of Veteran Affairs Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) Center grant. The Division of Rheumatology also maintains an NIH-funded Research Fellowship grant.
The Division's history of training rheumatology fellows dates back to 1959 when Dr. Glenn Clark became Division Chief in 1958. Over the years we've trained over 90 fellows to become clinical rheumatologists, physician scientists, and university faculty.
Please explore our website to learn more about individual faculty members, their research interests, and opportunities to train.