Denis Poddubnyy

Dr. Denis Poddubnyy graduated from Saratov State Medical University in Russia in 2003. He completed his doctoral thesis in 2008, investigating endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disease in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. In 2014, he completed his Habilitation at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, with a thesis focused on the prediction and prevention of disease progression in early axial spondyloarthritis. He subsequently received a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Berlin School of Public Health at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in 2016.

From 2016 to 2024, Dr. Poddubnyy served as Professor of Rheumatology and Head of Rheumatology at Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. During the same period, he led the Spondyloarthritis Research Group within the Epidemiology Program Area of the German Rheumatology Research Center (DRFZ).

Dr. Poddubnyy joined the University of Toronto in July 2024 as Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and as a rheumatologist and Clinician Investigator at University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital. He is a Senior Scientist at Schroeder Arthritis Institute, where he assumes several leadership roles.

Effective August 1, 2026 Dr. Poddubnyy was appointed Division Director of Rheumatology and Pfizer Canada Chair in Rheumatology within the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

For more than 20 years, his clinical and research activities have focused on the early diagnosis, treatment, imaging and outcomes of spondyloarthritis, including axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis. He has authored more than 350 scientific publications, including peer-reviwed articles and book chapters.