Rheumatology Research Foundation Hits 30-Year Milestone

Anne Stevens, MD, PhD, has received numerous Foundation awards to help train the next generation of rheumatologists.

At the 2014 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Boston, the Rheumatology Research Foundation staff sat down with a few ACR and ARHP members to get their take on what the Foundation’s 30th anniversary means to them. We spoke with current and former leaders of the Foundation and the ACR, as well as numerous Foundation award recipients, who have learned, trained, supported, explored and given back to the rheumatology community. Their answers varied, of course. Some members spoke about the incredible work the Foundation supports, the careers they embarked on because of Foundation awards and even the personal rewards that come from giving. Others spoke about the deep connection they have to rheumatology and why the Foundation exemplifies the best of the profession.

Above all, the most common remark was that the Foundation is a tremendous example of the rheumatology community and of rheumatologists and health professionals advancing the field together to create and drive improvements in the lives of patients.

During the meeting in Boston, Benjamin Smith, PA-C, said, “There’s so much good that’s happening because of what the Foundation is doing.”

The Foundation funds essential rheumatology research that will advance treatments and improve patient outcomes.

The Foundation has grown from its humble beginnings in 1985 into the largest private funding source of rheumatology research and training in the U.S., going from distributing just a few thousand dollars’ worth of awards to more than $13 million. Over its 30-year history, the Foundation has invested more than $116 million directly into research and training.

That degree of expansion isn’t possible because of a select few. Rather, the Foundation’s growth and achievements are the result of a concerted effort of many.

During National Arthritis Awareness Month, and indeed throughout 2015, the Foundation will be celebrating this momentous anniversary, shining a light on the incredible advancements made over 30 years.

The Foundation began as a modest and internal fundraising effort to support the research of a few members of the ACR. Eric Matteson, MD, the Foundation’s vice president, states of those early years, “We realized it was never going to be adequate for what we wanted to do to advance understanding of rheumatic diseases and create a work force that was capable of taking care of patients.”

The collective desire to do more eventually grew the Foundation into a premier organization, funding research and training programs around the country. As the portfolio of investments has increased in size and scope, the Foundation has asserted itself as a leader, not just within rheumatology, but among biomedical funders, advancing the most innovative and novel ideas from the brightest investigators.

The Foundation has filled, and will continue to fill, increasing gaps in funding while budgets for rheumatology research and training from traditional sources have declined during the economic recession. In the past five years alone, Foundation-funded investigators have published more than 630 papers, given 1,200 presentations worldwide and secured an additional $73 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Many of these prominent awardees are being featured throughout the year in 30 Over 30, a chronicle of 30 rheumatologists who have made significant contributions to improve patient care and training over the Foundation’s 30-year history.

“The 30th anniversary of the Foundation represents a time of explosive growth,” says David Karp, MD, PhD, president of the Foundation.

The 30 Over 30 designees have been exemplary drivers of that growth, training new rheumatologists through unique approaches and pursuing potentially revolutionary research questions. While Foundation-funded investigators are hard at work developing new insights, leaders in rheumatology education and training are hard at work recruiting the best and brightest students and residents. Since 1985, the Foundation has funded more than 1,000 preceptorships, granted 558 education and training awards and provided 63 lectureships.

The numbers of awards given and resources invested are not just statistics. They represent the characters in the Foundation’s 30-year history, from the individuals whose lives and careers were touched by grants to pursue ideas, to those who support those ideas by contributing to the Foundation in whatever way they can because they believe in the Foundation’s mission: Advancing research and training to improve the health of people with rheumatic diseases. This commitment is what will carry us through the next 30 years and beyond, together.

As we celebrate the 30 years of accomplishment the Foundation has enjoyed, we celebrate the people who made it possible.