Nancy J. Olsen will join Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center as professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Rheumatology in the Department of Medicine, and the H. Thomas and Dorothy Willets Hallowell chair in rheumatology on June 21. Prior to coming to the Medical Center, Olsen was professor of medicine (rheumatology), director of the rheumatology fellowship training program, the McGee Foundation Chair in Arthritis Research and director of clinical research at the Simmons Arthritis Center of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.
Her laboratory research has focused on gene expression and the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases and gender dimorphism of immune responses. Olsen’s clinical research interests include the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diseases including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. She has received the Clinician Scholar Award from the American College of Rheumatology.
Olsen earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Brown University, and a master of science degree in immunology and her medical degree from Chicago University. She completed her medical residency at the Medical College of Virginia and a rheumatology fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.