Leadership

The Rheumatology Research Foundation is led by a wide range of rheumatology community members from private practice, academic investigators and rheumatology professionals, as well as corporate representatives and public members dedicated to the Foundation’s mission.

Board of Directors
Honorary Board of Advisors
Development Advisory Council
Impact Advisory Council
Scientific Advisory Council
Past Presidents
Peer Reviewers

Board of Directors


V. Michael Holers, MD President University of Colorado	Liana Fraenkel, MD, MPH Vice President Berkshire Medical Center

Deborah Desir, MD Secretary Yale- New Haven Medical Center	Carol Langford, MD, MHS Treasurer Cleveland Clinic

Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH Chair, Scientific Advisory Council University of Nebraska Medical Center	Vikas Majithia, MD, MPH Chair, Development Advisory Council Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

Stephen Russell, MBA Chair, Impact Advisory Council	Mara Becker, MD, MSCE Member-at-Large Duke University

Bryce Binstadt, MD, PhD Member-at-Large University of Minnesota	Kevin Deane, MD Member-at-Large University of Colorado

Jody Hargrove, MD Member-at-Large Arthritis & Rheumatology Consultants, P.A.	Carrie Hansen Member-at-Large AssetMark

Elizabeth McKelvey Member-at-Large	Leo Wegemer, JD, LLM Member-at-Large

Alvin Wells, MD Member-at-Large Rheumatology Immunotherapy Center	Bethany Marston, MD ACR Training Representative University of Rochester

Kristine A. Kuhn, MD, PhD ACR Research Representative (2020-2023) University of Colorado, Denver	Marian Hannan, DSc, MPH Representative of the Association of Rheumatology Professionals Harvard Medical School

Bernie Rubin, DO Corporate Roundtable Representative GSK

Invited Guests


Colleen Correll, MD *Chair, ACR's Pediatric Special Committee* University of Minnesota Medical Center	Melanie Smith, MD, PhD Fellow In Training Hospital for Special Surgery


Ex-Officio Members

Kenneth Saag, MD, MsC President, American College of Rheumatology University of Alabama at Birmingham	Doug White, MD, PhD President-elect, American College of Rheumatology Gunderson Health System

Barbara Slusher, MSW, PA-C President, Association of Rheumatology Professionals MD Anderson Cancer Center	Rachel Myslinski, MBA Executive Director

HONORARY BOARD OF ADVISORS

The Honorary Board of Advisors is reserved for individuals who have made a transformative contribution, either through monetary support and/or an act of leadership, which made an indelible mark on the Foundation's future fundraising success.

Mark Andrejeski

Stanley B. Cohen, MD

Mary K. Crow, MD

Ephraim P. Engleman, MD
Inducted posthumously

Norman B. Gaylis, MD

Beverly Guin

Stuart Kassan, MD, MACR

Stephen E. Malawista, MD and Tobé Malawista
Dr. Malawista was inducted posthumously

Audrey M. Nelson, MD

James R. O'Dell, MD

Arthur L. Weaver, MD

Leo Wegemer, JD, LLM and Terry Wegemer

Michael H. Weisman, MD

Development Advisory Council

The Development Advisory Council is charged with overseeing the Foundation’s fundraising program to ensure the Foundation is cultivating the stable support needed to fulfill its mission.

Vikas Majithia, MD, MPH
Chair
University of Mississippi Medical Center

Allison Berger Solomon
Cameo

Linda S. Ehrlich-Jones, PhD, RN
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

Stuart S. Kassan, MD, MACR
Colorado Arthritis Associates

Iris Navarro-Milan, MD

Aileen L. Pangan, MD
AbbVie

Katherine S. Upchurch, MD
UMass Memorial Medical Group

Impact Advisory Council

The Impact Advisory Council is charged with communicating the work of the Foundation to patients and caregivers in the rheumatology community, advocating for rheumatology research, and highlighting the impact this research has on the patients with rheumatic diseases.

Steve Russell, MBA
Chair

Heather Benham, DNP, ADPRN, CPNP-PC
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

Magdalena Cadet, MD
NYU Langone Medical Center

Emily V. Gordon

Kiran Smith

Ronald Yglesias, MD
Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease Specialties

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Scientific Advisory Council

The Scientific Advisory Council is charged with overseeing the Foundation’s research and education funding programs to ensure they are run effectively and efficiently and are meeting the needs of the rheumatology community and people with rheumatic diseases.

Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH
Chair
University of Nebraska

Ed Behrens, MD
Children's Hospital of Philadephia

Nunzio Bottini, MD, PhD
University of California, San Diego

Maria Danila, MD, MSPH
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Anisha Dua, MD, MPH
Northwestern University

Michelle Kahlenberg, MD, PhD
University of Michigan

Al Kim, MD, PhD
Washington University

Kristine Kuhn, MD, PhD
University of Colorado, Denver

Katherine Liao, MD, MPH
Brigham and Women's Hospital

Bethany Marston, MD
University of Rochester

Jan Richardson, PT, PhD
Medical Outcome Indicators

Elizabeth Wellsandt, PT, DPT, PhD
University of Nebraska

Tim Wilson, MD
University of Colorado

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PAST PRESIDENTS

Arthur Weaver, MD (1991-1993)
Ronald Kaufman, MD, MBA (1993-1995)
Daniel Wallace, MD (1995-1999)
Stanley Cohen, MD (1999-2001)
Joseph Golbus, MD (2001-2003)
Michael Weisman, MD (2003-2005)
James O’Dell, MD (2005-2007)

Leslie Crofford, MD (2007-2009)
E. William St.Clair, MD (2009-2011)
David Daikh, MD, PhD (2011-2013)
David Karp, MD, PhD (2013-2015)
Eric Matteson, MD (2015-2017)
Abby G. Abelson, MD (2017-2019)
S. Louis Bridges, Jr., MD, PhD (2019-2021)

Peer Reviewers

The peer reviewers are charged with rigorously reviewing all applications for awards and grants to ensure the proposals adhere to specific criteria and are of a high quality.

Andy Abril, MD

Eric J. Allenspach, MD, PhD

Felipe Andrade, MD

Sheila Angeles-Han, MD, MSc

Tom Appleton, MD, PhD

Janet L Bahr, NP

Joshua F. Baker, MD

Alfonso Bello, MD

Jawad Bilal, MD

Ashira Blazer, MD

Marissa Blum, MD

David Bradley, PhD

Ru Bryan, PhD

Amy Cannella, MD

Vinod Chandran, MBBS, MD, DM, PhD, FRCPC

Benjamin Chong, MD

Cong-Qui Chu, MD

Cecilia P. Chung, MD, MPH

Carmelita Colbert, MD

Carla M. Cuda, PhD

Melissa A. Cunningham, MD, PhD

Maria Danila, PhD

Erika Darrah, PhD

Kevin Deane, MD, PhD

Maureen Dubreuil, MD

Gerald Eisenberg, MD

Bryant England, MD, PhD

Candace Feldman, MD, ScD

David Felson, MD

Xu Feng, PhD

David Fernandez, MD, PhD

Tanya S. Freedman, PhD

Anthony French, MD, PhD

Lianne S. Gensler, MD

Michael George, MD

Yvonne Golightly, PhD, MS, PT

John Gomez, MD

Alexei Grom, MD, PhD

Myriam E. Guevara, MD

Monica Guma, MD, PhD

Lauren Henderson, MD, MMSc

Aimee Hersh, MD

Jennifer Huggins, MD

LaurieAnn Hughell, MPH, PA-C

Laura Hughes, MD, MSPH

Mariko Ishimori, MD

Rumey C. Ishizawar, MD, PhD

S. Reza Jafarzadeh, DVM, MPVM, PhD

Matlock Jefferies, MD

Trine Jorgensen, PhD

Insoo Kang, MD

Sara Kellahan, NP

Seoyoung C. Kim, MD, ScD, MSCE

Jennifer King, MD, PhD

Fotios Koumpouras, MD

Nancy Lane, MD

Pui Y. Lee, MD, PhD

Yvonne Lee, MD, MMSc

Katherine P. Liao, MD, MPH

Maria A. Lopez Olivo, MD, MSc, PhD

Michael Lopker, MD, PhD

Theresa Lu, MD, PhD

Una Makris, MD

Vanessa L. Malcarne, PhD

Anne-Marie Malfait, MD, PhD

David Markovitz, MD

Mandy J. McGeachy, MD

Eli Miloslavsky, MD

Siamak Moghadam-Kia, MD, MPH

Elena Myasoedova, MD, PhD

Uyen-Sa D. T. Nguyen, DSc, MPH

Mark Niemer, MD

Alexis Ogdie-Beatty, MD, MSCE

Alessandra Pernis, MD

Christine Pham, MD

Deepak Rao, MD, PhD

Alan Rathbun, PhD, MPH

Rennie Rhee, MD, MS

James T. Rosenbaum, MD

Kelly Rouster-Stevens, MD, MS

Rebecca Sadun, MD

Laura Sampson, PA-C

Grant Schulert, MD, PhD

Phillip Seo, MD

Ami A. Shah, MD, MHS

Miriam Shelef, MD, PhD

Erin Siceloff, PA-C

Gregg Silverman, MD

Jasvinder Singh, MD, MPH

Jeffrey Sparks, MD, MMSc

Matthew Stoll, MD, PhD, MSCS

Henri Tiedge, PhD

Jeremy Tilstra, MD, PhD

John Varga, MD

Michael R. Waterfield, MD, PhD

Kevin S. Wei, MD, PhD

Pamela Weiss, MD, MSCE

Elizabeth Wellsandt, PT, DPT, PhD, OCS

Yee Ling Wu, PhD

Jared Younger, PhD

Yongdong Zhao, MD, PhD

Share your expertise. Volunteer to serve as a peer reviewer.

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Get Involved

Take an active role in the journey to cure rheumatic disease.