The ARHP Honors Health Professionals for their Contributions to Rheumatology

Q: What is the most gratifying part of your work?

A: That is very, very easy. To see your mentees getting their research published, coming up with great ideas, and getting some recognition and honors for it. That’s the best part.

Q: What do you think the future of rheumatology holds?

A: I think translational research is very promising. The goal is to connect basic science with drug development and to identify effective and efficient treatment strategies and ways to implement them effectively. With the advent of all the genomics and proteomics combined with greater computer power and novel statistical methodologies, researchers have wonderful tools to expedite drug development.

ARHP Ann Kunkel Advocacy Award

Deborah McCloskey, RN, BSN
Nurse Manager, Clinical Research Center, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, N.J.

Background: McCloskey began her nursing career in 1974 in the critical-care setting and earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1985. In 1988, a colleague encouraged her to interview for a position with a research team investigating scleroderma patients in the Department of Rheumatology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

“It was perfect for me,” she says. “I was hooked. I really enjoyed working with the scleroderma patients and with the research process. Scleroderma is such a complex illness involving so many of the internal organs … my critical-care background was put to good use. It was a good fit, and I never left.”

McCloskey has long been an active ARHP volunteer, having made numerous trips to Capitol Hill with the ACR Advocates for Arthritis program. She has served in various capacities on the Advocacy Committee, ACR Government Affairs Committee, ARHP Executive Committee, and the ACR Political Action Committee. The nurse manager at the UMDNJ Clinical Research Center since 2007, Ms. McCloskey is the recipient of the ARHP 40th Anniversary Star Award, as well as the ACR Advocate of the Month award.

“I always felt very strongly that it was my responsibility, as an RN, to advocate for my patients,” she says. “When I went on my first trip to Capitol Hill, I loved it. I was impressed with how little Congress knew about rheumatology, what the umbrella of different disease processes that rheumatology encompassed, and how many healthcare professionals work in that field. It was very exciting.”

Q: What are the first steps in becoming an advocate?

A: The ACR website has a lot of information on current issues. From the comfort of your office, you can visit the website to see what’s going on and what is important. There are links to your Congressmen, and you can send a memo to your Congressmen saying, “I need you to support this bill, this is important to me.” I think people need to realize your Congressmen are there to do a job for you. If you speak up, they will listen. That’s a very easy way to participate in the process.