The Amazing Volunteers Who Make Up the American College of Rheumatology Board of Directors

“The most important thing is getting the right people on the bus.”
—Jim Collins (paraphrased) from Good to Great.

They check their agendas at the door and come together, often after spirited debate, to do their very best to make decisions for the good of the whole College.

In my first column, I commented on what a tremendous honor it is to be president of the ACR, and how humbling it is. The ACR is special in many ways, but one of the most important ways is that, unlike most subspecialty organizations, we are the only organization in the U.S. that represents our subspecialists, rheumatologists. Therefore, our members—whether they come from private practice or academics, basic or clinical research, are in solo practice or from huge multispecialty groups, are teachers or administrators or any combination of the above—come together for the good of the organization and our leadership, regardless of background or career path, sits around one table as the ACR board of directors (BOD). Obviously, this makes the BOD very diverse in many respects, but very single minded in that they are all there to “Advance Rheumatology.”

A very big part of the reason why it is so humbling to be president is that you get to work with this amazing group of individuals. This group is amazing for at least two critically important reasons, in addition to their diversity: first, they are extremely talented, and second—and probably more important—they all understand that it is not about them. Other attributes include having a general awareness and understanding of the ACR programs and strategic issues, being forward thinking, and having demonstrated involvement with the College. Your board is willing to give their time to prepare for and attend the meetings, have frank discussions, occasionally agree to disagree on certain issues, and at the end of the day work together for the good of all rheumatology health professionals. They truly are the right people to have on the bus.

Meet Your BOD

I’m writing this column for two major reasons—so you will know about this special group of people so they get the recognition that they deserve, but also so you can communicate your concerns and ideas to them. The BOD represents you and we continue to need your input. The BOD is made up of the Executive Committee (a topic for another day), 12 voting At-Large members, one young member, and two nonvoting ex-officio members. In addition to this group of 21 individuals, the committee chairs (another group of amazing people) sit around the board table and very actively participate by adding their wisdom to all discussions. Without further ado, I’d like to introduce the BOD members.

Erin Arnold, MD, Wilmette, Ill. (2013)
Dr. Arnold is a rheumatologist in private practice at Illinois Bone & Joint Institute, a multispecialty group. Outside of her board service, she is the current ACR representative to the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria MSK Panel and was a member of the ACR Strategic Planning Committee.

Michael Brenner, MD, Boston (2012)
Dr. Brenner is chief of the division of rheumatology, immunology, and allergy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He has been on the board for four years because he generously agreed to complete someone else’s term. His past volunteer activities for the ACR included the Committee on Research (COR) and the BOD of the ACR Research and Education Foundation (REF).

Robert Colbert, MD, Bethesda, Md. (2014)
Dr. Colbert, a pediatric rheumatologist, is chief of the pediatric translational research branch at the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases. His service includes being a COR member and chair, a seat on the REF Scientific Advisory Council (SAC), and being on the Section on Pediatric Rheumatology Executive Committee.

William Harvey, MD, Boston (2014)
Dr. Harvey was recently promoted to clinical director at Tufts University. He currently serves as the BOD Young Member and is also participating on the 2020 Task Force and Blue Ribbon Task Force on Academic Affairs. He started his volunteer activities on the ACR Fellows Subcommittee and has also served on the Government Affairs Committee.

V. Michael Holers, MD, Aurora, Colo. (2014)
Dr. Harvey was recently promoted to clinical director at Tufts University. He currently serves as the BOD Young Member and is also participating on the 2020 Task Force and Blue Ribbon Task Force on Academic Affairs. He started his volunteer activities on the ACR Fellows Subcommittee and has also served on the Government Affairs Committee.

Karen Kolba, MD, Santa Maria, Calif. (2014)
Dr. Kolba is a rheumatologist in private practice at the Pacific Arthritis Center Medical Group. She has participated as a member and chair of the Committee on Rheumatologic Care (CORC). She also served on the ACR Strategic Planning Committee.

Sharad Lakhanpal, MD, Dallas (2013)
Dr. Lakhanpal is in practice at Rheumatology Associates. He is also clinical professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. His ACR service includes chair of GAC and the ACR Strategic Planning Committee.

Carlos Lozada, MD, Miami (2013)
Dr. Lozada is professor of clinical medicine in the division of rheumatology and immunology and director of the rheumatology fellowship training program at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. He has served on multiple ACR and REF committees, including Communications and Marketing, the Committee on Rheumatology Training and Workforce Issues, the ACR Abstract Selection Subcommittee, and the REF BOD and SAC.

Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, DrPH, Chicago (2012)
Dr. Ramsey-Goldman is professor of rheumatology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She has served on multiple ACR committees, including the Committee on Rheumatology Training and Workforce Issues and the Annual Meeting Planning Committee, and she chaired the Committee on Education (COE). She is also a co-editor of Arthritis & Rheumatism (A&R).

Antony Rosen, MD, Baltimore (2012)
Dr. Rosen is director of the division of rheumatology at John Hopkins Medicine. His first volunteer role was on the Fellows Subcommittee. He also chaired the Committee on Journal Publications and is a current co-editor of A&R. He was co-chair of the 2010 ACR Strategic Planning Committee.

Yvonne Sherrer, MD, Fort Lauderdale, FL (2013)
Dr. Sherrer is a rheumatologist in private practice at the Arthritis Center. She has served on CORC, the Committee on Rheumatology Training and Workforce Issues, the ACR Immunological Testing Guidelines Subcommittee, and the ACR Women in Rheumatology Subcommittee.

Joan Von Feldt, MD, Philadelphia (2012)
Dr. Von Feldt is a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and associate chief of staff, education, at the Philadelphia Veterans Medical Center. She has participated on COE, the CME subcommittee, and the Committee on Rheumatology Training and Workforce Issues.

Emily von Scheven, MD, San Francisco (2014)
Dr. von Scheven is director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Pediatric Rheumatology Program. She is also director of the pediatric rheumatology fellowship and UCSF site director for the Glaser Pediatric Research Network, a five-hospital collaborative program in the U.S. As a pediatric rheumatologist, Dr. von Scheven’s volunteer service includes time on the Executive Committee of the Section on Pediatric Rheumatology and the Pediatric Rheumatology Residents Program.

Finding the Right People for Our Bus

The whole College owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to the Committee on Nominations and Appointments. This committee, chaired by the immediate-past president (Stan Cohen last year, David Borenstein this year), consistently makes difficult and important decisions with wisdom and foresight. The Committee on Nominations and Appointments makes nominations for most of the volunteer positions within the College, including Secretary, Treasurer, Members-at-Large of the ACR and REF board of directors, and committee chairs and members of standing committees. They do their best to meet the goal of representing all interests of the organization in leadership positions.

Their recommendations shape the future by assuring that the right people are around all of our tables, whether that table holds the BOD or any of our other ACR and REF committees.

ACR Bus Driver and Member

Because of the amazing people that sit around the BOD table, it is a real privilege to drive the ACR bus. I have always had a great degree of respect for all of the previous presidents and, as I try to do this job, that respect has grown. In November, I got some great advice from a former president. (Advice, by the way, is in no short supply when you become president, and you have to figure out when it is great and when it is not so great.) Joe Croft, MD, the ACR president in 2000, told me, “Jim, just remember, it is not about you, you are just a caretaker.” That was Joe’s way of saying, “Jim, don’t screw it up!” I’m grateful for this advice and even more grateful that the BOD understands this concept very well. It is not about any of us. It is about coming together and representing our diverse constituencies, often with lively discussions, and then checking our own individual agendas at the door and trying our hardest to make decisions that are in the best interest of the whole ACR and all of rheumatology. I’m proud and profoundly grateful to work with these remarkable individuals to “Advance Rheumatology.”

Dr. O’Dell is director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program and division chief of rheumatology at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and the Omaha VA medical centers. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected].