The 2024 ACR Awards of Distinction

“I am honored beyond measure to receive the Distinguished Fellowship Program Director Award,” says Dr. Cannella. “This career achievement award validates the effort, dedication and enthusiasm that drive my passion for education. I am humbled to be included among the former recipients of this award, who have inspired many program directors, including myself.”

Dr. van der Heijde

Distinguished International Rheumatology Professional Award

The Distinguished International Rheumatology Professional Award is awarded to a rheumatologist or rheumatology health professional outside the U.S. and Canada for exceptional contributions in public service and advocacy to the global rheumatology community. This year’s recipient is Désirée van der Heijde, MD, PhD, professor of rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands.

“I am greatly honored to receive this award from my North American colleagues,” says Dr. van der Heijde. “My gratitude goes to all my worldwide collaborators who inspired me and worked with me on the various topics over the years.”

Dr. van der Heijde obtained her medical degree in 1986 from Catholic University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. She completed her PhD in 1991 and became a board-certified rheumatologist in 1993. Following a one-year appointment in Sweden in 1993, she joined the Department of Rheumatology at the University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands, until 2007, when she took up her current position. Since 2007, she has also been affiliated with Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway, and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Oslo.

Her major research interest is in the methodology of outcomes assessment and its application in clinical research. Specific areas of interest are radiographic scoring methods in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis, as well as scoring of magnetic resonance imaging in spondyloarthritis. She played a key role in the development and validation of multiple outcome instruments, such as the disease activity score (DAS) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) DAS (ASDAS), Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society Health Index (ASAS HI) for axSpA, and modified Sharp method for RA and psoriatic arthritis. She was the supervisor of 34 successful PhD students.

Dr. van der Heijde was the president of ASAS from 1995 to 2012. She was the chair of the EULAR Standing Committee for Clinical Affairs (currently Quality of Care Committee) and the ACR-EULAR liaison officer between 2011 and 2019. She has been an active member of Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Clinical Trials (OMERACT) since its start in 1992. She received the Gosling award for the best PhD thesis in 1993, the prestigious Carol Nachman Prize for Rheumatology for her scientific contributions to rheumatology in 2011, a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Ghent, Belgium, in 2012 and the Jan van Breemen medal in 2017. She is an honorary member of EULAR.