The 2020 ACR Awards of Distinction & Masters Class

Dr. O’Dell cites Herbert Kaplan, MD, as an important mentor. “Dr. Kaplan was the person who first got me involved in ACR,” Dr. O’Dell says. “I was honored to present him with the ACR Presidential Gold Medal in 2012. If I can help other rheumatologists find their way in rheumatology, like Dr. Kaplan did with me, I consider that a privilege.”

Under Dr. O’Dell’s leadership, the Foundation embarked on the $30 million Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis campaign, which supports academic centers of rheumatology as well as research efforts. “I’m also very proud of our work in establishing the ACR’s national disease registry [which has become RISE] and initiating disease target research fundraising that now raises millions of dollars annually to support research projects across the country,” Dr. O’Dell says.

“Receiving this award is humbling, especially when I think of past winners and the contributions they’ve made to the rheumatology field,” Dr. O’Dell says. “I consider so many of the past winners my mentors and role models.”

Not to make light of his significant contributions to rheumatology, Dr. O’Dell says one of his greatest accomplishments is his family. He and his wife, Deb, a nurse, have been married for 47 years and have three grown children and, more importantly, he says, six grandchildren.

In early November during ACR Convergence 2020, the ACR and ARP honored a group of distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to rheumatology research, education and patient care, announcing the recipients of the ACR’s 2020 Awards of Distinction and the ARP’s Merit Awards.

This month, The Rheumatologist speaks with the winners of the ACR Awards of Distinction about their individual contributions to advancing rheumatology. You’ll also find a list of individuals honored by the ACR with the Master designation in 2020.

Look for our coverage of the ARP Merit Awards and conversations with the 2020 Distinguished Fellows in the December issue of The Rheumatologist.

Receiving this award is humbling. So many of the past winners are my mentors. —Dr. O’Dell

Distinguished Service Award

The ACR Distinguished Service Award was presented to Stuart Kassan, MD, FACP, MACR, Distinguished Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of rheumatology over the course of his career.

Dr. Kassan received his undergraduate degree at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, and went on to receive his medical degree at The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C. He completed his residency at Emory University, Atlanta, and his fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery, Cornell Medical Center, New York.

He attributes his initial interest in rheumatology to his father, Robert J. Kassan, MD, who practiced rheumatology in White Plains, N.Y., for more than 40 years and was honored as an ACR Master in 2002. As a young boy, Dr. Kassan would sometimes accompany his dad on house calls.

“It’s certainly a thrill to be recognized by one’s peers for something that means so much to me,” Dr. Kassan says of the award. “I enjoy working with my colleagues at the ACR to make the rheumatology specialty the best it can be.”

While working at the National Institutes of Health in the late 1970s, Dr. Kassan published a sentinel paper on the association between Sjögren’s syndrome and lymphoma. Since then, he has testified before Congress on Sjögren’s syndrome and authored more than 40 research papers, chapters and books on Sjögren’s syndrome and related diseases.

A firm believer in professional development, Dr. Kassan has been a longtime member of and volunteer with the ACR and was named an ACR Master in 2012. He was the Paulding Phelps Award winner in 2015. In addition, he is a recent member of the Rheumatology Research Foundation Board of Directors, the national Board of Directors for the Arthritis Foundation and is president of the Colorado Rheumatology Association. In 2014, Dr. Kassan was named Distinguished Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the highest award a clinical faculty member there can receive.

As medical director of the Infusion Center of Denver since the clinic opened its doors in 2009, Dr. Kassan has seen dramatic changes with the advent of biologic therapies.

“This has given us the ability to say to patients ‘I can put the disease in remission’—words that were never spoken before,” he says. “This has also enhanced the popularity of the specialty, thus attracting the best and the brightest into the field. It’s a great time to be a rheumatologist!”