ACR MASTERS RECOGNIZED
Recognition as an ACR Master is one of the highest honors the College bestows. The designation of Master is conferred on ACR members, age 65 or older by Oct. 1 of the year in which they are nominated, who have made outstanding contributions to the ACR and the field of rheumatology through scholarly achievement and/or service to their patients, students and profession. The 23 individuals recognized in 2019 as ACR Masters are listed below. We asked: What does recognition as an ACR Master mean to you?
Nighat Mir Ahmad, MD, MBBS
Chair, Department of Rheumatology, National Hospital & Medical Centre; Adjunct Faculty, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
“After I completed a fellowship at MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, with mentors Asim Khan, MD, and Stan Ballou, MD, I returned to Pakistan with a vision of starting a training program in rheumatology. The ACR was my only link to the outside world.
“At that time there were only 10 rheumatologists for a population of 180 million people with limited resources. Rheumatology was not recognized as a specialty, and there were no training programs. The long, tedious journey from a rheumatology clinic in a small room in a charity center to founding a Division of Rheumatology at the Fatima Memorial Hospital Medical College was a challenge and so was getting rheumatology recognized as a subspecialty in the country. As head and founder of the first rheumatology training program and associate dean at the college, I introduced rheumatology to medical students, other specialists and family physicians. …
“I am overwhelmed and honored at my nomination. This would not have been possible without the support of the ACR, my mentors, my strong team at home, international faculty, the Pakistan Society for Rheumatology and my family.” —Dr. Ahmad
Jürgen Braun, MD
Professor of Medicine, Head of the Department of Rheumatology, Ruhr University Bochum; Medical Director of the Rheumatology Center Ruhrgebiet, Herne, Germany
“Recognition as an ACR Master is a great honor for me. It is an international recognition of my work for rheumatic diseases, especially spondyloarthritis, in the last 30 years. Once you become 65 years of age, you start to look back and think about your achievements and failures. We have been very lucky to have new techniques, such as MRI, and new drugs, such as biologics, become available in the last decades. In addition, one needs to have a motivated and productive team around that does much of the work needed to be successful, publish in good journals and receive grants that enable more research in the future. I’m very thankful for having that. I have always loved to work as a rheumatologist and I honor every person and event that helped me to become a scientist. Together with my wife, family and sports, this has been my personal and ideal combination in life.” —Dr. Braun
Calvin R. Brown Jr., MD
Professor of Medicine & Director of Rheumatology Training, Division of Rheumatology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago
“This award is not about how old you are, but how you are old. I am grateful to receive this award from an organization I admire and love so much.” —Dr. Brown
Gerd R. Burmester, MD
Professor of Medicine, Director, Department of Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology, Charité–University Medicine, Berlin, Germany; Free University and Humboldt University, Berlin
“To be recognized as an ACR Master means very much to me. It has been an exciting experience to be a member of the ACR for more than three decades now and attending nearly all ACR [Annual Meetings] since my graduation in rheumatology. This all started with my postdoctoral fellowship at The Rockefeller University, New York, and the Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, under the outstanding mentorships of Robert Winchester and Henry Kunkel. In these institutions, I received my training in translational rheumatology and immunology, starting with aspects of immune response genes and generating a vast number of monoclonal antibodies for the characterization of immune cells. Back in Germany, I could expand this knowledge to novel immune-based therapies. I have held very close ties to the ACR since then, including the excellent collaboration with my ACR leadership colleagues as a member of the EULAR Steering Group including my presidency.” —Dr. Burmester
Grant W. Cannon, MD
Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Utah; Associate Chief of Staff of Academic Affiliations, George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center, Salt Lake City
“One of the greatest privileges of my life is to be a rheumatologist and involved in the important work of education, research and clinical care for which the ACR is a premier sponsor and advocate. To be named a Master of the ACR is a wonderful honor. This award motivates me to continue to sustain and to promote our organization and its values and encourage our younger members to take full advantage of the ACR and the benefits it provides.” —Dr. Cannon
Rowland W. Chang, MD, MPH
Professor of Preventive Medicine (Epidemiology), Medicine (Rheumatology) and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago
“I appreciate the recognition given to me by my peers. I feel very much honored.” —Dr. Chang
Jonathan S. Coblyn, MD
Director, Clinical Rheumatology Director, Center for Arthritis & Joint Diseases; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School; Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston
“This is an incredible honor. I feel very fortunate to have had such a productive and wonderful career. The practice of rheumatology and its evolution from my training years to now has been nothing short of miraculous—and life changing for our patients. This award recognizes not only me, but our patients and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital that has allowed many researchers and clinicians to thrive.” —Dr. Coblyn
Hani El-Gabalawy, MD
Professor of Medicine & Immunology; Endowed Rheumatology Research Chair; University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
“For more than 30 years the ACR has represented a professional home that inspired and stimulated me to become the best that I can be in my discipline, whether it be as a clinician, researcher, teacher or administrator. To be recognized by my ACR peers as a Master is not only a great honor, but one that gives me a deep sense of satisfaction that I have succeeded in meeting the high professional standards this organization has always represented and promoted, and that have inspired and guided me over the years. I could not be more grateful for having had the opportunities to achieve this.” —Dr. El-Gabalawy
Simon Helfgott, MD
Director of Education & Fellowship Training, Division of Rheumatology & Inflammation, Brigham & Women’s Hospital; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston
“Aside from reminding me that I am getting a bit older, it is a very gratifying recognition of my efforts by my peers. I truly appreciate this award, recognizing that there are many outstanding rheumatologists whose efforts on behalf of their patients and in promoting the advancement of knowledge in rheumatology deserve this honor, too. But I don’t take the award to signal the end of my career; I like to believe that I am finally getting things going.” —Dr. Helfgott
James N. Jarvis, MD
Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, N.Y.
“I am honored to have been able to serve our patients and this organization over my career. It is a special delight for me to receive this recognition the very same year as my friend and colleague Linda Myers, with whom I started my pediatric training in St. Louis more than 40 years ago.” —Dr. Jarvis
Sharad Lakhanpal, MBBS, MD
Clinician, Rheumatology Associates; UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
“Recognition as an ACR Master is an appreciation of one’s dedication and contributions to the world of rheumatology. It is both gratifying and humbling that the ACR has bestowed this honor.” —Dr. Lakhanpal
Ronald M. Laxer, MD
Professor of Pediatrics & Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Toronto; The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
“I have had the privilege of participating in several ACR committees and activities over the years, and have valued the many colleagues that I have met and interacted with. The ACR has been a true supporter of pediatric rheumatology and has really advanced our specialty, thereby helping our patients. I am honored and humbled to be recognized as an ACR Master.” —Dr. Laxer
Linda Kay Myers, MD
Professor, Pediatric Rheumatology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tenn.
“First, I would like to acknowledge that I am deeply honored to receive this Master’s award from the ACR. When I decided to become a rheumastologist during a rheumatology elective as a third-year medical student, I really didn’t know what was ahead for me. Well-meaning people said children didn’t get arthritis so I should choose something worthwhile. Nevertheless, I persisted and became the first board-certified pediatric rheumatologist in Tennessee. My career has been rewarding, and I have enjoyed the challenges associated with solving complicated cases. I also loved the opportunity to study the immune system as it relates to arthritis, and it has been gratifying to watch the field of immunology progress. In summary, I am humbled to be honored by my colleagues at the ACR and thank the many people who contributed to my career.” —Dr. Myers
J. Lee Nelson, MD
Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology Division, University of Washington; Full Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center, Seattle
“ACR Master recognition is especially meaningful for me because spearheading a research area that is intrinsically interdisciplinary—the microchimerism legacy of pregnancy—has meant pathways of discovery that are both rheumatologic and apply to broader aspects of human health. At the same time, the motivation I share with my colleagues and rheumatology healthcare personnel is caring for patients with rheumatologic diseases and doing what we can to alleviate suffering for them and their families. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute research advances to our endeavors to continue to improve patient care.” —Dr. Nelson
Chester V. Oddis, MD
Professor of Medicine; Director, Myositis Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
“I am deeply grateful to share this honor with my fellow colleagues who have also received this very special award. It has been a pleasure to serve the ACR over my academic career and I am thankful for this opportunity.” —Dr. Oddis
John J. O’Shea, MD
Chief, Molecular Immunology & Inflammation Branch; Director, Intramural Research Program; National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
“As a resident in 1978, I admitted a nurse to the ICU at the VA with vasculitis and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage. We struggled to control her disease, which led me to call the NIH to get advice from Tony Fauci [Anthony S. Fauci, MD, NIAID director]. Sadly, she succumbed despite our efforts; however, this patient motivated me to come to the NIH to try to learn something about autoimmune diseases and how to treat them more effectively. And this is what I’ve been doing for the last 40 years; so this is what the Master’s Award represents to me. We now have jakinibs, and that’s an improvement. But there’s still so much we don’t know about autoimmunity, and that’s frustrating despite how much we’ve accomplished.” —Dr. O’Shea
Michelle A. Petri, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Director, Johns Hopkins Lupus Center, Baltimore
“I have been privileged to be a clinical researcher: to ask the questions that were essential for day-to-day care of people with lupus. It has always been a partnership: my patients in the Hopkins Lupus Cohort, fellows, research staff and the many collaborators.” —Dr. Petri
Carlos Pineda, MD, PhD
Senior Medical Sciences Researcher, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra, Mexico City, Mexico
“I am truly honored to receive this Master of Rheumatology 2019. It is gratifying to realize that I am appreciated by the organization that I have valued for so many years. Throughout my professional life, I have learned to weigh my achievements against the achievements of my colleagues, patients, students and collaborators with whom I have interacted, so I think this award is more for them than for me. This recognition represents not the end of a professional career, but the beginning of a new stimulus to continue working with innovative ideas and experiences to develop rheumatology in Mexico and the world.” —Dr. Pineda
Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, DrPH
Solovy/Arthritis Research Society Research Professor, Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology), Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago
“I knew from the time I did my first rheumatology rotation and attended an ACR meeting as a third-year resident that rheumatology would be the subspecialty for me and where I wanted to be for my professional home. I applied for and was accepted into a rheumatology fellowship program, and after the first week of training in the lupus clinic, I found my niche. It has been a privilege to work in this field, to help women with lupus manage their disease, to contribute new discoveries in lupus and related disease, and to train the next generation of young clinicians and investigators. It has been an honor to serve the ACR in multiple capacities. I am humbled and grateful for this recognition as an ACR Master.” —Dr. Ramsey-Goldman
John D. Reveille, MD
Director, Division of Rheumatology & Clinical Immunogenetics, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston
“I have had a long and fascinating career in academic rheumatology, which has spanned both basic and clinical research, various leadership roles and taken me to all corners of the globe. Becoming an ACR Master is a culmination of this and, although I have no retirement plans at present, makes me look back to my career with great satisfaction and pride.” —Dr. Reveille
William F.C. Rigby, MD
Professor of Medicine & Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth; Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H.
“Gratitude. From an inadvertent beginning, I could not have imagined greater luck than to happen to choose rheumatology as a subspecialty. This has led to a richly rewarding and textured career as a physician, a scientist and a teacher. The ACR has been our professional leader in creating this experience, including through challenging times. To be honored in this way, with so many equally deserving colleagues, makes me particularly thankful for the stewardship of the ACR.” —Dr. Rigby
Lee Stuart Simon, MD
Principal, SDG LLC, Cambridge, Mass.
“It is an honor to be recognized as a Master of the ACR. To be noted by my peers to have contributed importantly to the College and to the rheumatology community at large is a thrill. I am humbled by the recognition, and I thank the College for it.” —Dr. Simon
Fredrica E. Smith, MD
Retired, Orono, Maine
“I am honored and delighted to be appointed a Master of the ACR, an organization for which the focus is always on all aspects of providing excellent care to patients with rheumatic diseases, from research to clinical care to patient advocacy.” —Dr. Smith