Biography
I am a rheumatologist and epidemiologist whose research has focused primarily on risk factors for knee osteoarthritis and gout, pain mechanisms in knee osteoarthritis, as well as methodologic issues of relevance for rheumatic diseases. I have had continuous peer-reviewed foundation and NIH funding since 2003, and have over 300 peer-reviewed publications to date. I am a past chair of the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee, serve(d) on the boards two international societies: Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) and Gout, Hyperuricemia, and Crystal-Associated Diseases Network (G-CAN), and on committees for the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and International Association for the Study Pain (IASP), among others. My work has been recognized with the prestigious 2014 ACR Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award for outstanding and promising independent contributions to rheumatology research (awarded to no more than one clinical researcher and/or one basic science researcher each year), and the 2022 OARSI Clinical Research Award (in recognition of important contributions to OA research). I have also engaged in developing new classification criteria for a number of rheumatic diseases. In addition to research, clinical work, and teaching, one of my key roles is to mentor trainees and junior faculty in musculoskeletal disease-related research. To that end, I was awarded the 2016 Robert Dawson Evans Research Mentoring Award. I also developed and led the new CTSI Research Career Support Program initiative, PRIME (Pathways to Research Independence and Mentoring Excellence), which aims to support early career mentored researchers to successfully transition to becoming independent researchers.
Expertise includes:
- Osteoarthritis: epidemiology; risk factors; mechanisms of osteoarthritis-related pain; the role of bone in the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis
- Gout: epidemiology; risk factors and triggers for gout attacks; management of gout; consequences of gout and hyperuricemia
- Classification criteria and outcome measures in rheumatic diseases.
- Novel methodology to address challenging epidemiologic issues