People Behind The Science Podcast - Stories From Scientists About Science, Life, Research, And Science Careers

Dr. Paul Changelian is Vice President of Biology at Aclaris Therapeutics and Director of Biology at Confluence Life Sciences. He is working to discover new drugs to treat autoimmune disease and inflammation in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and multiple sclerosis. In these conditions, the immune system inadvertently attacks cells in your body. He and his team are working to identify and test small molecule drugs that patients could take by pill that would inhibit this abnormal activation of the immune system to slow down damage to joints or other areas that may be under attack. They have also recently begun working on potential cancer treatments that can impact inflammation around tumors to improve the body’s ability to clear tumors. Some of Paul’s passions outside of science include exercising, walking around in nature, and music. He listens to hard rock and jazz music, and he enjoys playing jazz music on the trumpet. Paul received his B.S. in chemistry from the Un