Speakers

A/Prof. Ying Ying LEUNG is Associate Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School, and Senior Consultant of the department of Rheumatology & Immunology of Singapore General Hospital (SGH). She is currently the head of research in the department of Rheumatology and Immunology. Her research interests are in psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis, focusing in evaluation and development of measurement instrument evaluation and biomarkers.
A/Prof. Leung serves as associate editor in International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases, Journal of Rheumatology, Frontiers in Medicine, BMC Rheumatology and Singapore Medical Journal. She has been the Asian chair of the outcome measure working group in the Group For Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA).

Associate Professor Soamarat Vilaiyuk is a pioneer pediatric rheumatologist in Thailand. After finishing her fellowship training in USA since 2005, she returned to her home country with her inspiration to help patients with rheumatic diseases. Due to lack of pediatric rheumatologist, she has developed the fellowship training program since 9 years ago. Currently, there are pediatric rheumatologists almost every part of the country. Her research interests include systemic JIA, MAS, SLE, and cytokines. Currently, she is a Chief of Rheumatology Division, Program Director of Residency training & Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship training and Assistant Dean for Graduate Education in Faculty of Medicine Ramathidbodi Hospital, Mahidol University. She is also a Chairman of Pediatric Rheumatology Society of Thailand and PRINTO National Coordinating Centre Director.

Daniel Aletaha is Chair of Rheumatology and Head of the Division of Rheumatology at the Medical University of Vienna. Dr. Aletaha has received academic degrees from the Medical University in Vienna, Duke University and Danube University, and had spent over two years at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He is a dedicated scientist with broad interests in outcomes research, clinical trials, and translational research in inflammatory rheumatic diseases. He is author on more than 240 publications, and serves on the Editorial Board of several rheumatology specialty journals.
Daniel Aletaha has been involved in several International Task Forces, including EULAR Management Guidelines for RA and PSA, and the Treat-to-Target recommendations, and was lead author of the 2021 | Full Virtual CongressClassification Criteria for RA. He has served many years in the EULAR Executive and is currently treasurer of EULAR.

Dr. Aisha Lateef is currently Chief of Medicine at Woodlands Health Campus, Singapore, an 1800 bedded hospital set to open in phases from 2022. She has previously held the positions of clinical services director for Department of Medicine, and Head of Rheumatology at National University Hospital, Singapore.

She has special interest in SLE and obstetric rheumatology, has published several articles and book chapters, and serves on the editorial board and as a reviewer for many rheumatology journals. She plays an active role in rheumatology organizations and research collaborations including the Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration. She holds teaching appointments at two medical schools in Singapore. She has also served as the Vice Chairman, Chapter of Rheumatologists, Academy of Medicine, Singapore.

Dr Arvind Chopra is the current APLAR coordinator for the WHO ILAR Community oriented program for control of rheumatic diseases (COPCORD). He initiated and has spearheaded COPCORD India since 1996. Dr Chopra is synonymous with the global success of COPCORD. He is the Director of Centre for Rheumatic Diseases in Pune, India, and a well-known physician scientist and academician from India. His research publications, well over 120, are widely cited especially in the domain of COPCORD epidemiology, Chikungunya, Clinical drug trials including Ayurveda arthritis medicines. He also established a successful Bone and Joint Decade program in India and was awarded as a BJD ambassador by the international committee.

Dr Asami Abe is currently working at Niigata Rheumatic Center in the Department of Rheumatology. She attended the Asahikawa Medical College in Japan and went on to later finish graduate school in 2003. Throughout the last 20 years, Dr Abe has been working in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Department of Rheumatology at a number of different hospitals and centers in Japan.

Ashish Mathew is an associate professor in clinical immunology and rheumatology at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. He completed his rheumatology training from the same institution, and subsequently did a clinical fellowship in psoriatic arthritis at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is currently completing his PhD at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark on MRI enthesitis in SpA. His research interests include biomarkers and outcome measures in psoriatic arthritis, MRI in SpA, and epidemiology of rheumatic diseases. He has around 50 publications in peer reviewed journals, and is an active reviewer of many rheumatology journals. He is a member of the GRAPPA, serving in the education committee, OMERACT, ASAS and Global Burden of Diseases.

Chi-Chiu Mok is currently the chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong. He is a consultant physician and honorary teaching professor of the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

An active researcher, Dr. Mok is the first author of more than 200 papers in a number of medical and Rheumatology journals that include the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Nature Review Rheumatology, Arthritis and Rheumatology, Rheumatology (Oxford), and Arthritis Care & Research. His research interests include systemic lupus erythematosus, particularly lupus nephritis, and glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis. Dr. Mok is also the principal investigator of more than 10 phase II/III global trials investigating the safety and efficacy of novel biological agents in various rheumatic diseases.

Dr. Mok is currently the senior associate editor of the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases and an editorial member of more than 10 medical journals that include the Journal of Rheumatology, Lupus and Current Rheumatology Review.

Dr. Mok is a Past President of the Hong Kong Society of Rheumatology. He is the founder editor of the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology and Immunology, the official publication of the Hong Kong Society of Rheumatology.

Gary S. Firestein, MD, is director of the Clinical and Translational Research Institute and the senior associate vice chancellor for health sciences at UC San Diego. Dr. Firestein joined the faculty at UC San Diego School of Medicine as assistant professor of Medicine in 1988. Four years later, he was recruited by Gensia, Inc. to be director of immunology, where he supervised drug discovery efforts focusing on the potential role of purines in inflammation.

In 1996, he returned to UC San Diego where he served as chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology from 1998 until
2010. In 2008, he became the dean of Translational Medicine. In 2010, he became associate vice chancellor of translational medicine and director of the newly established ACTRI, which is funded in part through the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program. In 2020, the ACTRI was awarded its third consecutive successful NCATS CTSA U54 Award under Dr. Firestein’s leadership, with an additional $55 Mover the next 5 years dedicated to the advancement of clinical and translational science. In 2020, he was named senior associate vice chancellor for health sciences.

He is the co-founder of lgnyta, Inc., a biotech company that went public in 2021 | Full Virtual Congressand was acquired by Roche in 2018. Its lead drug entrectinib was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for certain cancers. He is the co-creator of the University of California CTSA consortium called UC BRAID and served as its chairperson from 2013-2015. During his career, Dr. Firestein has served as the principal investigator on grants totaling more than $150 million in research funding, including numerous NIH and commercial-sponsored research grants and clinical trials.

Dr. Firestein’s research interest focuses on the pathogenesis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. He was among the first to map the cytokine profile of RA and demonstrate the dominance of macrophage and fibroblast products. These studies played a pivotal role in the development of highly effective anti-TNF and other anti-cytokine therapies for RA.

More recently, his research has included studies to evaluate immune dysfunction in individuals at risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis. His Google Scholar H index is 99 with over 40,000 citations. Dr. Firestein has received the Carol-Nachman Prize for Rheumatology, the Arthritis Foundation Lee C. Howley Sr Prize for Arthritis Research, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Distinguished Investigator Award, and the Jane Wyman Humanitarian

Award. He has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and holds a Doctor of Science (he) from University of Glasgow, awarded in 2019.

Dr. Firestein has served as editor and then the editor-in-chief of Firestein and Kelley’s Textbook of Rheumato!ogy from the 7th through 11th editions. He has written over 350 articles and book chapters, and is past deputy editor of Arthritis & Rheumatism. Dr. Firestein is past chairperson of the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee and has served on the Board of Directors of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), ACR Research and Education Foundation, as chairperson of the ACR Committee on Journal Publications, on the ACR Committee on Research, on the Arthritis Foundation Research Committee, on the Board of Directors for the Veteran’s Medical Research Foundation, and on the NIH National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) Advisory Council.

Dr Jem Ninan is a clinical rheumatologist and early researcher. He is attached to the University of Adelaide and Basil Hetzel Institute. He is a Consultant Rheumatologist at the Modbury and Lyell McEwin Hospitals. His research interest is primarily in the field of epidemiology, diagnostics and imaging in Giant cell arteritis. Dr Ninan is the past Honorary Secretary of the South Australian branch of the Australian Rheumatology Association.

Dr Julie Yu is an Associate Professor in University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Manila, Phils. She heads the Rheumatology Center of the UST Hospital. She serves as the Section Chief of Rheumatology in the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center and sits as the Director of the institution’s Department of Medical Education and Research. She is the President of Osteoporosis Society of the Phils Foundation, Inc. and the immediate Past President of the Philippine Rheumatology Association.

Dr. Lee graduated in 1990 from The University of Hong Kong. He received rheumatology training in Queen Mary Hospital, the teaching hospital of University. In 1998, he established rheumatology service in a major regional hospital, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. He now is the director of Rheumatology Center of Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital. He is also Honorary Associate Professor of both the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

In 2004, he introduced musculoskeletal ultrasound in his rheumatology unit and actively promoting MSK ultrasound locally and internationally. He was invited as trainer in regional ultrasound training courses and he was an accredited ultrasound trainer under EULAR.

He has been elected as chairman of the Hong Kong Arthritis & Rheumatism Foundation in 2020.

Dr Kei Ikeda is working as an assistant professor/senior lecturer in Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba, Japan. He learned and studied musculoskeletal ultrasound in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, and Leeds University, UK, and now plays a central role in Ultrasound Standardization Committee for Rheumatoid Arthritis of Japan College of Rheumatology.

Khai Pang is a rheumatologist practising in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He sees patients suffering from the broad range of the rheumatic diseases. His research interest include quality of life and personalised medicine.

Dr. Kuo-Lung Lai is a rheumatologist in Taichung Veterans General Hospital (TCVGH). He got M.D. degree at National Yang-Ming University in 2001, and currently is a Ph.D. candidate in Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics in National Taiwan University. He had been a member of the Board of Directors of SUMROC during 2010-2012. He has been the major supervisor of MSUS program in TCVGH since 2021 | Full Virtual Congressand carried out several MSUS studies of rheumatic diseases. He is a reviewer of the following academic journals: Journal of Medical Ultrasound, Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, Formosan Journal of Rheumatology, and International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.

Dr. Kyaw Thura Zaw, born in 1982, is a Myanmar citizen and currently lives in Yangon. He received MBBS in 2021 | Full Virtual Congressand M Med.Sc (Internal Medicine) in 2021 | Full Virtual Congressfrom Defense Services Medical Academy (DSMA), Yangon. Since 2021 | Full Virtual Congresshe has been qualified to enroll in rheumatology training course at the Department of Rheumatology, University of Medicine (1) Yangon. He was rewarded one government scholarship and one fellowship program to strengthen his career. He underwent residential medical training at N N Blokhin Cancer Research Center Moscow, Russia from 2021 | Full Virtual Congressto 2021 | Full Virtual Congressand rheumatology hands-on training at CMC Vellore, India from August 2021 | Full Virtual Congressto March 2021 | Full Virtual Congress.He is an enthusiastic and hard-working consultant physician and rheumatologist serving in Myanmar Army since 2000.His research interest is on vasculitides.

Laniyati Hamijoyo MD, is a rheumatology consultant and medical staff in Faculty of Medicine University of Padjadjaran Bandung, Indonesia. She has done her rheumatology fellowship training in University of Santo Tomas, Manila Philippines. She serves as member of several medical organizations, such as Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration (APLC) and Lupus SIG of APLAR, education and scientific committee of Indonesian Rheumatology association (IRA), and currently also serves as scientific committee of APLAR. She actively involves in several national or international clinical trials. Her main interest is in the field of lupus where she has done several studies, been author and co-author of several journals.

Latika Gupta is a clinician scientist working as Assistant Professor at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India. In addition to running the myositis clinic at the oldest rheumatology research and training unit in India, she is a dedicated myositis researcher and IMACS scientific board member. In addition to entering collaborations with European and American counterparts working on myositis, her efforts were seminal in setting up myoIN, an Indian collaboration on myositis. Recently she organised the first myositis-focused meeting, the myoIN summit, in Lucknow.

Dr Gupta is currently the social media editor for the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology and the Indian Journal of Rheumatology, the associate editor of the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases, and has been awarded the Publon’s top peer reviewer award for clinical sciences as well as cross-specialty. She has had a meritorious career with 30 publications, 10 awards, nine travel fellowships, and six gold medals.

Dr. Lubna Nazir is an Assistant Professor of Rheumatology at Laiquat National Hospital & Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan. She has been actively involved in the care and management of patients for several years and is also a passionate teacher. She serves as a teaching programme Director and is also a board member of Ethical review committee at her institute. She has authored several publications and has also coauthored a book. She has presented several posters and papers in national and international conferences. She is an active member of Pakistan society of Rheumatology and APLAR osteoporosis SIG.Her special interests are Osteoporosis and Spondyloarthropathies.

Dr Luigi Zolio, MBBS(Hons), BMedSc(Hons) is a medical resident at Alfred Health in Melbourne, Australia. He is currently completing Basic Physician Training with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and intends to pursue a career in Rheumatology. His other interests include medical education, pursued through employment as a Teaching Associate at the Monash University School of Medicine.

Dr. Masaki Shimizu is currently Senior Lecturer in the Department of Child Health and Development at Tokyo Medical and Dental University. He is the chairman of the International Committee of Pediatric Rheumatology Association of Japan. He is also the member of the International Committee of Japan College of Rheumatology. Dr. Shimizu received his MD and training in Department of Pediatrics, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan. In 2005, Dr．Shimizu completed his PhD in Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan. In 2012, Dr. Shimizu received the training of Pediatric Rheumatology in Department of Pediatric Rheumatology, Genoa University, Genoa, Italy. His research has focused on the pathogenesis of Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and Macrophage Activation Syndrome, in particular, the role of Inflammatory Cytokines including Interleukin-18.

Dr. Muhammad Ahmed Saeed is Associate Professor and Head Department of Rheumatology at Al-Aleem Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan. He has been contributing extensively to teaching, training and research, in the field of Rheumatology. He has co-authored 20 publications and has presented several abstracts at international as well as national conferences. He has special interest in Spondylo-Arthritis, Lupus and Inflammatory Arthritis.
He has served Pakistan society for Rheumatology (PSR) as General Secretary and Treasurer and is currently PSR council member. He is also a Fellow of American College of Rheumatology and has been recipient of American College of Physicians International Fellowship Exchange Program award for 2014. He was awarded APLAR-COPCORD grant in 2018.
He is also actively involved in community service and is one of the founding board members of Arthritis Care Foundation, a trust working for welfare of less privilege arthritis patients.

Dr Ramya Janardana, is presently working as Associate Professor ,Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru. She has completed her fellowship in Rheumatology from Christian Medical College, Vellore. She has been actively involved in clinical work, academics and research activities of these respective departments over last 6 years.

• Her research interests are scleroderma, inflammatory myositis and CTD-PAH
• She is actively involved in national collaborative works in the field of scleroderma and myositis
• She has notable publications in peer reviewed international journals
• She had the opportunity to present an oral paper on MMF in scleroderma -ILD in EULAR, 2018
• Her review article on CTD-PAH published in IJRD, received an award for most cited paper in 2019

Dr Ruchika Goel is a member faculty at the Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, predominantly involved in the care and management of patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases at tertiary care level. Her research is focused on the pathogenesis of primary systemic vasculitis especially Takayasu’’s arteritis (TAK)and factors underlying tissue tropism in this medical condition. Her publications are focussed on disease stratification, serum biomarkers and genetics of TAK. She has also been involved in establishing a serum, DNA and arterial tissue bio-bank for this medical condition in her institution.

Shinji Sato, MD, is a Professor of Rheumatology at Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan. He obtained his MD at Shinshu University in 1993. He has trained as a Research Fellow under supervision of Professor Antony Rosen at Johns Hopkins University from 2021 | Full Virtual Congressto 2010. His major research interests include clinical and immunological aspects of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy.

Dr. Thurayya Arayssi is Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at the Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar. Dr. Arayssi’s current research interests focus on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), for which she has received funding as the Principal Investigator and Behcet disease. She has organized the Middle East Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium (MERAC), which brings together renowned rheumatologists from the Middle East and the United States who share the interest of investigating the genetics and the clinical characteristics of Arab patients with RA for the purpose of improving their care. She has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, abstracts and book chapters in her area of expertise.

Dr. Al-Mayouf finished his residency training from KFSH-RC, followed by Fellowship in Pediatric Rheumatology from Sick Children in Toronto. He also has served as a board- member of Saudi Rheumatology Association and is the national coordinator for the Pediatric Rheumatology International Organization (PRINTO).
Dr. Al-Mayouf has more than 100 publications in scientific journals as well as many abstracts. He is a frequent lecturing nationally and internationally in Pediatric Rheumatology.

Dr Anthony Sammel is an Australian rheumatologist with subspecialty expertise in vasculitis. He is a staff specialist at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney and a conjoint lecturer at the University of New South Wales. He runs a weekly dedicated vasculitis clinic and co-ordinates the hospital’s multi-specialty vasculitis clinical and research service. Anthony is board member of the recently formed Australian and New Zealand Vasculitis Society (ANZVASC). Anthony’s current research focuses on large vessel vasculitis including advanced imaging for giant cell arteritis and assessing outcomes in patients with isolated aortitis.

Dr Yin Minn Soe graduated from University of Medicine 1, Yangon in 2021 | Full Virtual Congressand completed her post graduate medical degrees- M.Med.Sc (Internal Medicine) and Dr.Med.Sc ( Rheumatology) from same University. She went one-year APLAR fellowship training in Western Hospital, Melbourne, Australia under supervision of A. Professor Keith Lim in 2014-2015. She has been working as a Rheumatology consultant in Yangon Specialty Hospital and conducting as a principle investigator of many ongoing departmental research since 2016. Her main areas of interest in Rheumatology are Myositis, Systemic sclerosis and Vasculitis. She is actively organizing the Rheumatology Medical Touring in out-reached area and border area as Rheumatologists are only available in 2-cities.

Yukinori Okada, M.D., PhD is the Professor of Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine. He received the M.D. and PhD from the University of Tokyo. His research theme is the elucidation of mechanism in which genetic variants in the populations affect clinical phenotypes of individuals. His strengths is that he has multiple professional backgrounds as a rheumatologist, a statistician, and a bioinformatician. Through active collaborative partnerships among the researchers of human genetics, Prof. Okada has conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of human complex traits. His interests are now moving towards genetic and bioinformatics analysis using BIG DATA generated by technologies in the post-GWAS era, such as next generation sequencing, and its application to novel drug discovery.

Yuko Kaneko is an Associate Professor at the Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Prior to this appointment, she was Assistant Professor at the same University.
Dr Kaneko received her M.D. from the Keio University School of Medicine in 1997 and subsequently served as a Resident, Faculty and Instructor in Internal Medicine at Keio University. She was appointed as Assistant Professor at the Centre for Clinical Research in 2021 | Full Virtual Congressand then as Assistant Professor at the Division of Rheumatology in 2009. She completed her PhD (Doctorate of Medical Science) in 2021 | Full Virtual Congressat the Keio University School of Medicine. From 2012-2013, she worked as a researcher at the Oxford University Nuffield Department of Orthopedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, UK.
She has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals, with a focus on rheumatic diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, Still’s disease, as well as IgG4-related disease.

Dr Takashisa Gono graduated from Shinshu University Graduate School with a Ph.D. in 2004. Since then he has been an Assistant Professor from 2021 | Full Virtual Congress– 2021 | Full Virtual Congressat both the Internal Medicine (Rheumatology and Neurology), Shinshu University and Institute of Rheumatology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University. From here he became an Associate Professor where he moved between Institute of Rheumatology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Department of Rheumatology, Saitama Medical Center, Jichi Medical University and is currently  the present Associate Professor, Department of Allergy and Rheumatology, Nippon Medical School Graduate School of Medicine. Dr Gono is also part of the scientific societies of Councilor of The Japanese College of Rheumatology, Councilor of The Japanese Society of Clinical Immunology and Editorial Board, BioMed Research International Journal.

Throughout his award Young Investigator’s Award of the Japanese Society of Rheumatology in 2021 | Full Virtual Congressand  the Young Investigator’s Award of the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine in 2013.

After completing the first training in Japan, he completed an Internal Medicine Residency program at the University of Hawaii, and a Rheumatology Fellowship program at New York University. In 2006, he took the role of Program Director of the Department of Rheumatology at the Kameda Medical Center. He moved to St Luke`s International University/Hospital in 2009, before moving on to accept his current positions in 2019. Dr Kishimoto was certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 2004, and the American Board of Rheumatology in 2006. He received an ACR Distinguished Fellow Award in 2006. He was a Steering committee member in the ‘APLAR guidelines for management of rheumatoid arthritis and Spondyloarthritis’ project, and currently serves as a Steering committee member in JCR guidelines for management of RA and Epidemiological survey of PsA and SpA in Japan, GRAPPA and ASAS member, and Japan’s Principal Investigators for the ‘ASAS-Comospa and perSpA’ studies.

Mr Cheng graduated from Chung-Shan Medical Collage, School of medicine in Taichung Taiwan and received Post-Graduate Education in Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, Chang Gung University. He is currently an associate professor, School of Medicine in Chang Gung University and also visiting staff in Rheumatology section at Chang Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung. His major study interest is not only the field of Rheumatology but osteoporosis/fracture. He is a specialist in Rheumatology Association R.O.C and also in osteoporosis care in Taiwan Osteoporosis Association (TOA). His special interest in investigation is autoimmune disease-related osteoporosis/fracture.

Masayoshi Harigai, MD, PhD is Professor and Chairperson of Department of Rheumatology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan. He graduated from National Defense Medical College and received a PhD from Keio University in 1991. He served as Professor of Department of Pharmacovigilance at the Graduate School of Tokyo Medical and Dental University between 2021 | Full Virtual Congressand 2015. After returning to Tokyo Women’s University in 2021 | Full Virtual Congressas an Endowed Professor, he was installed in the present position in 2019. Professor Harigai is the principal investigator of Clinical Epidemiological Research for Standardization of Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis and the Japan Research Committee for Intractable Vasculitis (JPVAS) of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, and the principal investigator of clinical trial of tocilizumab for ANCA-associated vasculitis funded by Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development. He has served as a director of Japan College of Rheumatology since 2019.

Md I.A. Ratih Manuaba is one of Internal Medicine Rheumatologist doctor of Indonesia. She work as a doctor at Prima Medika Hospital & Puri Raharja Hospital in Bali, also teaches a musculoskeletal subject at Bali International University in Denpasar City.

Dr Shuang Ye is Executive Director of the Rheumatology Division, Renji Hospital South Campus, and Vice Director of the Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital Main Campus, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China.
Dr Ye maintains active clinical research programs. His work has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including NEJM, Lancet Rheumatology, ARD, A&R. His research interests are lupus, CTD-associated PAH and ILD.
Dr Ye has been an invited speaker at many national and international conferences such as American College of Rheumatology (ACR), EULAR, Australian Rheumatology Association (ARA) annual meetings.

Prof. Guo received her PhD from Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden in 2009. Then she joined Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, People’s Hospital, Peking University. In 2018, Dr. Guo was appointed as Professor at Peking University. Her research interests focus on identification and functional characterization of autoimmune disease regulating gene(s), with an emphasis on genetic variants resided in MHC locus. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers in the field of inflammation and autoimmunity. Prof. Guo is now serving as a committee member and secretary in-general for Clinical Immunology Association of China. She was the winner of the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award in 2021 | Full Virtual Congressand 2016, and the Outstanding Basic Research Achievement from Beijing Natural Science Foundation in 2017.

Ahmadreza was born in Iran in 1961 . He graduated in medicine from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) in 1988. Then he continued his studies in internal medicine at the same university. Then in 1996 he graduated in the field of rheumatology at TUMS. Ahmadreza was accepted as a faculty member of TUMS in 1992. He has held important responsibilities over the years. Among his important responsibilities are the following: president of Rheumatology Research Center (RRC) as center of excellence of rheumatology in Iran from 2021 | Full Virtual Congressuntil now, president of Iran Rheumatology Association (IRA) from 2021 | Full Virtual Congressto 2019, member of Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences.
Over than 150 fellowship, PhD, and MSc students have been graduated under his supervision over the years. He published more than 180 articles in in prestigious international journals.

Amita Aggarwal is a Professor and Head of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at one of the premier institution in India, the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute, Lucknow. She is a clinician scientist, with major interest in Juvenile idiopathic arthritis and SLE. In addition, she has taught a generation of physicians working in the field of rheumatology in India. In recognition of her work, she has been elected fellow of the Indian academy of Science, National academy of Science as well as National academy of Medical Sciences. She has also served as the President of Indian Rheumatology Association as well as editor of Indian Journal of Rheumatology.

He trained in rheumatology in Australia and at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases UK. His laboratory research focuses on glucocorticoid-induced proteins in the immune system. His clinical research focusses on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). He founded the Lupus Clinic at Monash Health, now Australia’s largest lupus cohort and biobank. He is Chair of the Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration, now the largest longitudinal cohort of SLE patients ever assembled, chaired the 2021 | Full Virtual CongressInternational Congress on SLE, and was awarded the William E Paul Distinguished Innovator Award of the Lupus Research Alliance, New York. He has over 200 publications, which have been cited >11,000 times.

Evan Vista, MD heads the rheumatology section of Ospital ng Makati. He is an active consultant, associate professor and research professorial chair in rheumatology at St. Luke’s Medical Center (Bonifacio Global and Quezon city) and College of Medicine Manila, Philippines. Dr. Vista currently serves in the Board of Trustees of The Philippine Rheumatology Association. He is a member of the fellowship training committee of University of Santo Tomas Hospital Rheumatology Center. He was an Associate Research Scientist at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation-Department of Arthritis and Clinical Immunology. He authored several peer reviewed journals in rheumatology and book chapters in Lupus and a member of the American College of Rheumatology and of the Clinical Immunology Society

Helen was appointed Professor of Paediatric Rheumatology at Newcastle University, UK in 2007. She trained initially in adult rheumatology, subsequently paediatric rheumatology and worked as an NHS consultant since 1995. Her academic focus has been to improve access to the ‘right care’ through identifying and understanding barriers to care and working with stakeholders to address the challenges. Key achievements include development of novel clinical tools (pGALS and pREMS) which are widely taught and embedded in clinical education around the world, evidence based e-resources (http://www.pmmonline.org), NICE guidance to support clinical assessment of children in primary care and ‘Rightpath’ (http://www.rightpath.solutions) as a validated model of triage in the community. Helen worked in Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia 2018-2020. She is Chair of Paediatric Global MSK Task Force to raise awareness and innovate strategy to leverage change and was appointed to the WHO External Review Group for Disability in Children in 2020.

Dr James Cheng-Chung Wei is a Professor of Chung Shan Medical University Hospital (CSMUH) in Taichung, Taiwan. He is also Chief of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology and Director of the Chinese Medicine Clinical Trial Center at CSMUH.

Dr Wei undertook a clinical fellowship at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath, UK, under the supervision of Professor Andrei Calin, one of the world’s leading experts in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Dr Wei subsequently pursued a research fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Division of Rheumatology in California, USA, under Professor David Yu, investigating the pathogenesis of spondyloarthritis.

Dr Wei had published 160 papers in peer-reviewed SCI journals , such as the Lancet, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis & Rheumatism, Rheumatology, and International Journal of Epidemiology.
one. He had conducted over 150 global clinical trials and about 40 investigator-initiated clinical trials. He is currently full membership of the ACR, GRAPPA and ASAS. He is also the scientific advisory board of the APALR, and associate editor of the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.

His current major interests are translational research in AS, clinical trials and big data research in rheumatology.

Dr. Yamamoto graduated from The University of Tokyo School of Medicine in 1977. After finishing his residency, he conducted basic research. In 1985, He started his own research projects and also served as clinical rheumatologist in The University of Tokyo Hospital. He then moved to Kyushu University as a professor. In 1997, he became Professor and Chairman of Department of Allergy and Rheumatology, The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine. In 2017, he reached the mandatory retirement age and moved to RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences as the director. During these academic carriers, Dr. Yamamoto has been deeply involved in the field of human immunology research as well as genetic analyses of autoimmune diseases.

Lai-Shan Tam, MD, is division head and a professor in the Division of Rheumatology within the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). In 2019, Dr Tam has been awarded European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) honorary member, and her team was awarded the Asia Pacific League Against Rheumatism (APLAR) center of excellence. She served as the chairperson of the international affair committee of APLAR since 2012, Vice President of APLAR 2014-2016. Professor Tam serves as the international advisory board member of The Lancet Rheumatology since 2019. She is also the associate editor of International Journal of Rheumatic Disease. Dr Tam is the first author or co-author of over 200 articles published in major rheumatology journals.

Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Professor of Rheumatology is from Bangladesh. From 2001, he is serving the Dept. of Rheumatology of BSMMU as a regular faculty and at present as Chairman. He received many awards both from APLAR and EULAR and participated in several international conferences as an invited speaker. He has 101 publications in different international peer-reviewed journals. He is the founder life member & at present Vice President of Bangladesh Rheumatology Society (BRS). His other involvements are Deputy Secretary General of APLAR, Associate Editor of IJRD, member of SpA SIG of APLAR. He is running Modern One-Stop Arthritis Care and Research Center (www.mskcare.com) as Director.

Professor Sandra Navarra is head of Rheumatology at University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. She served as secretary-general of the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) and was past president of Philippine Rheumatology Association (PRA). She heads the Rheumatology Educational Trust Foundation Inc. (RETFI) which administers Lupus Inspired Advocacy (LUISA) for lupus education and research, and People Empowerment for Arthritis and Lupus (PEARL) for lay education and medical assistance programs. She is a member of the Lupus Academy Steering Committee, and executive board member of both Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration (APLC) and Asian Lupus Nephritis Network (ALNN).

Dr. Sathish Kumar, Consultant Rheumatologist, Professor at the Department of Pediatrics, Christian Medical College, Vellore. He obtained his pediatric degree from the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India. He then completed his clinical fellowship followed by research fellowship in Lupus in Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Canada from 2021 | Full Virtual Congressto 2009. He has started the pediatric rheumatology unit in CMC, Vellore along with his mentor Dr. Debashish Danda (adult Rheumatologist). Now his unit has follow up of almost 1000 children with JIA, 650 children with lupus and 100 children with Takayasu arteritis. His major clinical and research interests include juvenile idiopathic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and Takayasu arteritis. He is also the Reviewer of national and International rheumatology Journals He has authored text books / chapters in paediatrics rheumatology. He has published over 80 papers in national and international journals.

After MRCP (London), she completed rheumatology training in Pakistan, cleared the U.K. Specialist Rheumatology Examination, and co-pioneered Rheumatology services including dedicated PaedsRheum Clinics at FMHCM&D.
Presently she is Professor & HOD Rheumatology at NH&MC. She is Adjunct/ Visiting Faculty FJMU & Al-Aleem Medical College, Lahore.
She is Rheumatology Supervisor, and Examiner, College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan.

Primarily an adult rheumatologist, her special interest remains childhood rheumatic diseases.
She interned in Pediatric Rheumatology, KUMC, USA, through the ACP International Fellowship & acquired the Graduate Certificate in Paediatric Rheumatology, from the University of Western Australia.

She is Past President, Pakistan Society for Rheumatology & Founder Trustee & Co-Chairperson, Arthritis Care Foundation.
She is AE IJRD & Convener APLAR Paediatric Rheumatology SIG.

Professor Singh is head of the Department of Pediatrics and Chief, Allergy Immunology Unit, Advanced Pediatrics Centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India-160012. He is the Principal Investigator for the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Centre for Advanced Research in Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases (2015-202021 | Full Virtual CongressProfessor Singh was Vice-President, Indian Rheumatology Association between 2021 | Full Virtual Congress– 2019, and is the President for the Asia Pacific Society for Immunodeficiencies until 2024.

Dr. Goodman is a practicing rheumatologist at The Hospital for Special Surgery. Her research interests include perioperative course for rheumatic disease patients at the time of arthroplasty. She also collaborates with both orthopedists and basic scientists in studies utilizing surgical tissues to better understand the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis.

T M Chan is Chair Professor and Chief of Nephrology at HKU and HK West Cluster Hospitals. His research interests include lupus nephritis and viral hepatitis in patients with kidney diseases, with publications in N Engl J Med, Nat Rev Nephrol, J Am Soc Nephrol, Arthritis Rheum, J Autoimmun, Frontiers Immunol, EBioMedicine, Kidney Int, Hepatology, Am J Transplant, Transplantation, and UpToDate. He is the Lead Author for the 2021 | Full Virtual CongressKDIGO clinical management guidelines on Lupus Nephritis. He has served as President of Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology (APSN). He is currently Vice-President of Hong Kong College of Physicians. He received the APSN Kenzo Oshima Award in 2014.

Professor Worawit Louthrenoo is a rheumatologist at the Division of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University. He completed his rheumatology training at the Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand in 1986, and at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, USA in 1990. His research work covers many aspect in rheumatology, including crystal associated arthropathy, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and infectious arthritis. Professor Louthrenoo received many teaching and research awards, published more than 200 scientific articles and 80 book chapters, and being invited to give lectures both in the national and international meeting. In addition, he has been involved in the executive committee of the Thai Rheumatism Association and APLAR.

Yasuhiro Tanaka is the Professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Centre of Rheumatic Diseases, Nara Medical University. He holds a number of positions on memberships and boards including, the Director of Japan College of Rheumatology (JCR), Adviser of Committee on International Affairs, Japanese Orthopedic Association, Vice-president of Japanese Society for Surgery of the Foot, Past president of Asian Federation of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (AFFAS), Council Member of International Federation of Foot and Ankle Surgery (IFFAS), Director of Japanese Orthopedic Society of Knee, Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine (JOSKAS) and Vice-president of Japanese Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine.

Denis Poddubnyy is a professor of rheumatology at the Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany.
In 2021 | Full Virtual Congresshe completed his PhD thesis related to the cardiovascular pathology in ankylosing spondylitis and in 2021 | Full Virtual Congresshis lecturer qualification thesis dedicated to the topic of ‘Prediction and prevention of disease progression in early axial spondyloarthritis’. Since 2021 | Full Virtual Congresshis research activities have focused on early diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes in patients with axial spondyloarthritis. Dr Poddubnyy is a member of the executive committee of the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) and author of a number of publications on the topic of spondyloarthritis in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.

Professor Li is a committee member of the Youth Committee of Rheumatology Branch, Chinese Medical Association, executive member of Rheumatology Branch of Chinese Information Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and editorial board member of the Rheumatology and Immunology. She has a long standing interest in the mechanism and immunotherapy of RA. She has published over 50 articles on peer reviewed journals and also contributed to over 8 textbooks and book chapters in rheumatology.

MD Sarah Reid is a PhD student at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her research interests are focused on the relationship between genetics and manifestations of systemic autoimmune diseases. She has recently published an extensive paper exploring the effect of the cumulative genetic risk for SLE on the prognosis and the development of specific clinical disease sub-phenotypes. She is currently conducting further work on genetic risk scores, and hopes to contribute to their clinical implementation in the future.

Takahiko Sugihara is a rheumatologist, and started his career at Department of Rheumatology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University from 1997. After moving to Department of Medicine and Rheumatology, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital as department manager, he had established elderly cohort of rheumatoid arthritis and created new evidence. He joined to Japan Research Committee of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare for Intractable Vasculitis (JPVAS) from 2014, and launched retrospective and prospective cohort of large-vessel vasculitis. He was also responsible for developing and executing a clinical guide for management of large-vessel vasculitis. 2020-2021 | Full Virtual Congresswill be an exciting year as Takahiko leads content direction for treatment algorithm of large-vessel vasculitis in Japan.