John P. Whelan, MD, PhD
Accepting new patients

John P. Whelan, MD, PhD

  • Pediatric Rheumatology|
  • Hospital Medicine
Santa Monica Pediatric Specialty Care | 1260 15th Street, Suite 1024, Santa Monica, CA 90404

About

Patrick Whelan MD Ph.D. is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Rheumatology at UCLA. He completed his undergraduate degree in biochemistry at Harvard University, the Ph.D. degree at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, and the MD degree at Baylor College of Medicine. He completed rheumatology training at Harvard and was for twenty years a pediatric rheumatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

He is the past president of the Los Angeles Pediatric Society and helps run their summer program for high school students interested in a career in pediatrics. His research interests pertain to non-inflammatory vasculopathies, particularly Kohlmeier-Degos disease, and he has spearheaded efforts at UCLA to develop multidisciplinary care for patients with the PANS and PANDAS syndromes -- conditions that contribute to OCD, tic, and behavioral problems in young children. He also has a longstanding interest in Catholic bioethics.

Clinical interest
1. Diffuse connective tissue diseases (juvenile lupus, dermatomyositis, systemic sclerosis, Sjogren's disease, juvenile rheumatoid arthitis/JIA, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis)
2. Kohlmeier-Degos disease, COPA, and other rare vasculopathies
3. Henoch-Schoenlein purpura and other forms of vasculitis
4. Familial fever syndromes (FMF, TRAPS, CAPS) and other autoinflammatory disorders (Behcets, sarcoidosis, CRMO, PFAPA)
5. Covid and other viral vasculopathies
6. PANS/PANDAS and fibromyalgia
7. Autoimmune manifestations of immunodeficiency, including the 22q11 deletion syndromes
8. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan's, Stickler syndrome, and other hypermobility syndromes

Languages

English

Education

Medical Board Certifications

Rheumatology, American Board of Internal Medicine, 1998
Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, 1996

Fellowship

Rheumatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 1999

Residency

Internal Medicine, Scripps Green Hospital, 1996

Degrees

MD, Baylor College of Medicine (MD Only), 1993
PhD, Baylor College of Medicine (MD Only), 1992

Hospital Affiliations

Medical Services

Insurance

  • Aetna
  • Anthem Blue Cross
  • Blue Shield of California
  • Centivo
  • Cigna
  • First Health
  • Health Net of California
  • Interplan (part of HealthSmart)
  • L.A. Care
  • MultiPlan
  • UFCM Health System
  • Prime Health Services
  • Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
  • TRICARE
  • UnitedHealthcare

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