The 2024 ACR Awards of Distinction

“When I was the physician editor of The Rheumatologist, I learned a lot about the important role played by the many dedicated, creative ACR members who volunteer their time and talents to help the College achieve its goals,” says Dr. Seo. “I’m therefore particularly honored to receive this recognition from my peers, knowing that many ACR members are equally deserving of this award. My work with the ACR has transformed my life in ways I could have never anticipated; it has been a privilege to contribute to just some of the ACR’s many important initiatives.”

Excellence in Investigative Mentoring Award

The Excellence in Investigative Mentoring Award recognizes the importance of the mentor/mentee relationship. This award honors active ACR or ARP members for their contributions to the rheumatology profession through outstanding and ongoing mentoring. This year, the award was presented to Diane Lacaille, MD, FRCPC, MHSc, and Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH.

Cr. Lacaille

Dr. Lacaille is scientific director of Arthritis Research Canada, headquartered in Vancouver, as well as a professor in the Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver. She has a rheumatology practice in Vancouver and holds the Mary Pack Chair in Rheumatology Research from UBC and the Arthritis Society Canada. She completed medical school and internal medicine training at McGill University, Montreal, and her rheumatology training and a master’s degree in health sciences, clinical epidemiology, at UBC.

Dr. Lacaille’s research focuses on two areas:

1. Studying the impact of arthritis on employment and preventing work disability. To that effect, she developed Making It Work, an online program helping people with arthritis deal with employment issues, and demonstrated, in a randomized, controlled trial, the program’s effectiveness at improving presenteeism and reducing absenteeism. This program meets a huge unmet need in the health services available to people with arthritis.
2. Using population-based administrative health data for British Columbia to conduct pharmaco-epidemiology studies and evaluate the quality of healthcare services received by people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Her research has drawn attention to the impact of rheumatoid arthritis and its treatment on comorbidities/complications and the importance of controlling inflammation, not only to prevent joint damage, but also to prevent systemic complications of inflammation.

To improve the alarming gaps in care Dr. Lacaille identified, she developed and tested innovative strategies to improve quality of care and health equity, including community-based research with Indigenous communities to co-develop and test culturally safe arthritis services. Her research has been supported by peer-reviewed grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Arthritis Society Canada and the Canadian Rheumatology Association.