Eric L. Matteson, MD
Dr. Matteson selected as vice president of the Rheumatology Research Foundation
The Rheumatology Research Foundation, the charitable foundation of the American College of Rheumatology, is the “largest private funder for rheumatology research and support for new and established investigators,” according to the Foundation’s new vice president, Eric L. Matteson, MD, chair of rheumatology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., who has more than 25 years of experience.
The Foundation’s president, David Karp, MD, PhD, says, “We are fortunate that Dr. Matteson is willing to share his experience in rheumatology and on the Simple Tasks campaign with us. He will be able to steer the Foundation down a continued path of success while helping us raise awareness of our organization and the work it does.”
Dr. Matteson says, “The job of vice president is to assist the president in the overall vision of funding, to help develop strategies for research funding, to meet with donors, to work with the board to identify talent and to administer grants.”
Deciding which investigators to support leads to “very rewarding [results] when we can see the successes of our students and fellows,” says Dr. Matteson.
Pércio S. Gulko, MD
Dr. Gulko named chief of rheumatology for the Mount Sinai Health System
In what he characterizes as “a dream come true,” Pércio S. Gulko, MD, is the new chief of the Division of Rheumatology in the Samuel Bronfman Department of Medicine in the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York.
Dr. Gulko looks forward to working with a “fantastic team of medical chemists, genomists, system biologists and immunologists. Together, we will build upon the Division’s existing success by combining breakthrough research and extraordinary patient care for those who suffer from rheumatologic diseases.” He plans to expand research and clinical trials, as well as identify new treatments.
His own research in rheumatoid arthritis has focused on identifying and characterizing new genes in regulating the disease severity and joint damage of rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Gulko has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles. He was most recently professor and director of the Laboratory of Experimental Rheumatology at the Center for Genomics and Human Genetics at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, research division of North Shore-LIJ Health System in New York.
Désirée van der Heijde, MD, PhD
Honored for publications
Expertscape uses quantitative analysis of publications in the PubMed database to declare the world’s foremost experts in various medical disciplines. In June, Expertscape proclaimed Désirée van der Heijde, MD, PhD, one of the world’s top specialists in rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. van der Heijde has published more than 280 papers in international literature.
As professor of rheumatology at the Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands, she has many projects, but the one dearest to her heart is understanding “the relationship between disease activity and damage as seen on radiographs. We have been struggling for a long time to prove it. It’s very exciting to see it now,” says Dr. van der Heijde.
Victoria Shanmugam, MBBS, MRCP
Dr. Shanmugam named new division director at George Washington University
Victoria Shanmugam, MBBS, MRCP, says she is very excited to be the new director of the Division of Rheumatology in the Department of Medicine at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C.
“There is a unique opportunity at GW to recognize and build a strong translational research collaboration across boundaries. The mission is providing strong multidisciplinary patient care, hypothesis-driven research and state-of-the-art clinical training for new rheumatologists.”
“Dr. Shanmugam’s experience in translational research, rheumatology and wound healing brings cutting-edge immunology and genomics research to the patient’s bedside,” says Alan G. Wasserman, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine at SMHS.
Dr. Shanmugam was most recently associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine. She graduated from Oxford University and the Imperial College School of Medicine in Great Britain.
Donah Zack Crawford, MA
Revolutionary War reenactor serves as 18th century medical interpreter
Donah Zack Crawford’s paying job is clinical research coordinator for The Arthritis Group in Philadelphia. Her hobby is 18th century medical interpreter. Wearing Colonial-era inspired costumes, she teaches people about medicine and sanitation in the 1700s as part of the British Detached Hospital.
Her talks are informed by the contemporaneous books and medical instruments she’s collected since she started participating in Revolutionary War reenactments 24 years ago. When her 8-year-old son decided he wanted to be part of reenactments, he needed an adult to accompany him.
Ms. Crawford said most of the women cooked or sewed. She didn’t particularly enjoy doing either of those things, so she found another role to play. A medical slant came naturally. Because the most popular treatments for maladies, including arthritis, were bleeding and purging to rid the body of bad humours, she had a lot to learn.
The rewards include inspiring an interest in history in visitors, being an extra in the film The Patriot and meeting her husband “on the battlefield.”
Ann-Marie Lindstrom is an independent writer and editor based in the Tucson, Ariz., area.
