Faculty

Thomas J. Schnitzer, MD, PhD, is Professor of Internal Medicine/Rheumatology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and has trained at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the National Institutes of Health, the MRC Rheumatism Unit in Taplow, England, and at the Imperial Cancer Research Institute in London, England.

Professor Schnitzer has a long-standing interest in chronic musculoskeletal pain and the development of new therapeutic approaches to its management. His clinical research has been supported by numerous federal research grants, and he has also worked closely with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, providing guidance in the design and conduct of clinical studies of novel drugs. He has most recently been involved in exploring the role of brain pathways in the development and maintenance of chronic pain. At Northwestern University, he founded and directed the Office of Clinical Research and was assistant dean for clinical research at the medical school. He is a Master of the American College of Rheumatology, served on the editorial board of numerous journals, and has published over 200 peer-reviewed publications.

Francis Berenbaum, MD, PhD, is Professor of Rheumatology at Sorbonne Université and is the Director of the Department of Rheumatology at AP-HP Saint-Antoine Hospital in Paris, France. He is the national representative of bone and joint diseases at AVIESAN, the French National Alliance for Life Sciences and Health. He is a member of the EULAR Public Affairs Group and is a former member of the EULAR Scientific Program committee in 2018-2020. He is a former president of OARSI (Osteoarthritis Research Society International) in 2008-2010 and of the French Society of Rheumatology in 2014-2016. He is Associate Editor of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. Dr Berenbaum leads an experimental team at INSERM institute. His basic research interests include the understanding of relationships between metabolic diseases and osteoarthritis. His clinical research focuses on new targeted therapies for treating symptoms and structural changes in osteoarthritis. He is involved in several clinical trials either from public or private partners. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed publications. Dr Berenbaum was the recipient of the Annual OARSI Clinical Research Award in 2017.

Philip Conaghan, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FRCP, is Professor of Musculoskeletal Medicine and Director of the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine at the University of Leeds, UK, a EULAR Centre of Excellence. He is a rheumatologist and Deputy Director of the NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. His research spans early translational studies through large late-phase clinical trials, with major interests in understanding pathogenesis and developing effective therapies for common arthritides. He is an executive member of the international outcomes group OMERACT, also serves on the executive of FOREUM, and was inaugural Chair of the EULAR Standing Committee on Musculoskeletal Imaging. He is on a number of editorial boards, is co-editor of the most recent Oxford Textbook of Rheumatology, and has authored/co-authored over 550 publications as original research, reviews, and book chapters.

Dr. Gillian Hawker is the Sir John and Lady Eaton Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the Women’s College Research Institute. She is a rheumatologist and health services researcher whose research has focused on advancing care for people with osteoarthritis along 3 broad themes: (1) elucidating the determinants and consequences of care for people with painful hip and knee osteoarthritis, with a particular interest in appropriateness of use of total joint arthroplasty; (2) understanding—and improving the measurement of—the osteoarthritis patient experience, including the downstream effects of osteoarthritis pain on sleep, mood, fatigue, activity limitations, and quality of care; and more recently (3) the inter-relationship of osteoarthritis with other common chronic conditions which commonly co-occur in people with osteoarthritis (eg, diabetes and cardiovascular disease), on osteoarthritis care and outcomes. She is also a passionate advocate for advancing the academic careers of women in medicine. She has published almost 300 peer-reviewed articles and in 2020 was the recipient of the OARSI Award for Clinical Research.

Dr. Hochberg is currently Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Public Health; Head, Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology; and Vice Chair, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine and Director, Medical Care Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System. He matriculated at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed residency training in internal medicine and fellowship training in rheumatology at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Dr. Hochberg is recognized as an international expert in the clinical epidemiology of osteoarthritis, including the design and conduct of clinical trials and development of evidence-based recommendations for patient management. He has published almost 500 peer-reviewed articles and is Editor-in-Chief of Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism and an Editor of Rheumatology 8e, the leading specialty textbook in the field. He is a Master of both the American College of Physicians and the American College of Rheumatology and a Past-President of the U.S. Bone and Joint Initiative as well as a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from The Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association, the Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Osteoarthritis Research Society International.

Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine and of Epidemiology at Boston University Schools of Medicine and of Public Health, the endowed Alan S. Cohen Professor of Rheumatology, and Chief of Rheumatology at Boston Medical Center. As a rheumatologist and PhD-trained epidemiologist, her research focuses on osteoarthritis and gout, with a particular focus on pain mechanisms in recent years. She is a past chair of the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee, serves or has served on the boards of international societies (Crystal-Associated Diseases Network (G-CAN), Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI)), and on committees for the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and International Association for the Study Pain (IASP), among others. Her work was recognized with the 2014 ACR Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award for outstanding and promising independent contributions to rheumatology research. She has led or engaged in development of new classification criteria for a number of rheumatic diseases, and has led national ACR treatment guidelines for gout and osteoarthritis. In addition to research and clinical care, Dr. Neogi mentors early stage researchers. In recognition for her mentoring excellence, she was awarded the 2016 Robert Dawson Evans Research Mentoring Award.