CHICAGO—During ACR Convergence 2025 in October, the ACR and ARP honored a group of individuals who have made significant contributions to rheumatology research, education and patient care by announcing the recipients of the ACR’s 2025 Awards of Distinction and the 2025 ARP Merit Awards, as well as the 2025 ACR Masters and the 2025 ACR Distinguished Fellows, recognized for their contributions to the field. The December 2025 issue will feature the recipients of the ARP Merit Awards.
Presidential Gold Medal
The highest award the ACR can bestow, the Presidential Gold Medal, is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievements in rheumatology over an entire career. This year’s Presidential Gold Medal Award recipient is Eric L. Matteson, MD, MPH, FACP, MACR, MPANLAR, emeritus John F. Finn Professor of Medicine and Emeritus Chair, Division of Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., with joint appointment in the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic.
His clinical and epidemiological interests include vasculitis, especially polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis (PMR/GCA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and extra-articular disease of RA, notably lung involvement, sarcoidosis, autoimmune inner ear disease and other rheumatic diseases, as well as historical aspects of rheumatology. Of particular note was his investigation of the work and life of Friedrich Wegener, leading to a nomenclature revision for Wegener’s granulomatosis to polyarteritis with granulomatosis (GPA). His drug safety work has included population-based studies on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, gastropathy and evaluation of infection and malignancy risk of rheumatic disease therapies.
Dr. Matteson’s contributions to studies of PMR/GCA have redefined their epidemiology, classification and outcome measures. With colleagues, his studies of novel uses of advanced therapies for rheumatic diseases include AT-GAM, the first study of a biologic for adult idiopathic pericarditis, the first study of a Janus kinase inhibitor for treatment of GCA, etanercept and other agents for autoimmune inner ear disease, and a biologic (rituximab) for RA lung disease, the first defined clinical trial in RA lung disease in the history of the discipline. He contributed to developing, pioneering and publishing the investigational concept of interstitial pneumonitis with autoimmune features (IPAF). With colleagues at Mayo Clinic, he was involved in studies on an AI-based program for the evaluation of drug efficacy and safety in RA. Dr. Matteson has authored/co-authored over 500 scientific publications and over 60 book chapters and several books on a variety of topics in rheumatology.
For over 30 years, Dr. Matteson has been a volunteer for the ACR. His many roles with the ACR have included service as a member of the Quality of Care Committee outcomes measures and guidelines panels, as a member of the Ethics Committee, as co-chair of the abstract selection committee for the annual ACR Convergence, as co-chair of the Winter Rheumatology Symposium planning committee and as chair of the Communications and Marketing Committee, at the time launching the Simple Tasks campaign and The Rheumatologist newsletter. He is past president of the Rheumatology Research Foundation and served on the ACR Executive Committee. Dr. Matteson is currently the chair of the ACR Global Engagement Committee, working to enhance teaching and patient care in the U.S. and internationally. He is an honorary member of the Rheumatology Societies of Chile, Uruguay, New Zealand, PANLAR and EULAR.
Distinguished Basic/Translational Investigator Award
The Distinguished Basic/Translational Investigator Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to the field of rheumatology, was presented to Richard F. Loeser Jr., MD, MACR, the Joseph P. Archie Jr. Eminent Professor in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology and director of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Loeser received his medical degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, and completed his residency and fellowship training in internal medicine, rheumatology and geriatrics at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Dr. Loeser’s lab employs a combination of in vitro experiments using human joint tissue cells and in vivo experiments in rodent models to study cell signaling pathways that regulate anabolic and catabolic activity responsible for joint tissue remodeling and destruction in osteoarthritis (OA). Longstanding projects in the lab include studies to decipher α5β1 integrin signaling in response to matrix damage and studies examining the role of aging and cell senescence in OA. He has also studied the role of the gut microbiome and most recently his lab has started a small molecule discovery program for OA disease modification. He is also co-principal investigator of a National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) funded study using a genomics approach to identify causal genes in OA. In addition, he has served as a co-investigator on five large exercise and weight loss studies for knee OA. For these studies he conducted investigations of biomarker and metabolomics to better understand the mechanisms of the beneficial effects of diet and exercise.
Dr. Loeser has published over 250 research articles, reviews, chapters and editorials. He has received the Osteoarthritis Research Society International Award for Basic Research in Osteoarthritis and a NIAMS MERIT award for his project titled Integrin Function in Cartilage. He takes particular enjoyment in training the next generation of investigators and has had over 50 trainees in his lab, including undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
His service to the ACR has included serving on the Annual Meeting Planning Committee for 10 years, including as chair of the basic science subcommittee, followed by chair of the committee. He has served on the ACR Committee on Research, Committee on Education, the Abstract Selection Committee and the Research Agenda Task Force. He has served on the Rheumatology Research Foundation’s Innovative Research Grants Review Committee and currently sits on the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Loeser served as an associate editor for Arthritis & Rheumatology (A&R) and for the past 10 years has been a co-editor.
“As one of only a handful of rheumatologists studying the basic biology of osteoarthritis, I am honored to receive this recognition from the ACR,” says Dr. Loeser. “It is a testament to all those who have helped me along the way and will hopefully inspire others to join the search for an OA cure.”
Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award
The Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award, given annually to a clinical scientist making outstanding contributions to the field of rheumatology, was presented to Maureen D. Mayes, MD, MPH, who holds the Elizabeth Bidgood Chair in Rheumatology and is a professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston. She is a leading authority in the field of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) and has made significant contributions to research, clinical care and medical education.
Dr. Mayes received her undergraduate degree from Notre Dame College, Baltimore, and her medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk. She then completed both her residency in internal medicine and her rheumatology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the nation’s premier institutions for medical training.
Her academic career began in 1981 when she joined the faculty of West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown. She later served on the faculty at Wayne State University, Detroit, before accepting a position in 2002 at the University of Texas Medical School, Houston. There, she became a key member of the scleroderma research program and had the opportunity to establish a dedicated scleroderma clinic. This clinic continues to serve as a center of excellence, where she provides specialized patient care, mentors residents and rheumatology fellows, and conducts translational research and clinical trials aimed at developing more effective treatments for systemic sclerosis.
In 1998, Dr. Mayes founded the Scleroderma Family Registry and DNA Repository, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The registry provided the basis for the first large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) in systemic sclerosis. Her work, in collaboration with national and international researchers, has been critical in defining the genetic underpinnings of the disease and advancing our understanding of its pathogenesis.
Over the past three decades, Dr. Mayes has been a key figure in the design and execution of most multicenter clinical trials in systemic sclerosis. Her scholarly output includes over 300 original research articles that have explored the genetic, serologic and clinical characteristics of the disease.
Dr. Mayes is a fellow of the ACR and a long-serving member of the National Scleroderma Foundation’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee. Her dedication to research, patient care and education has established her as a foremost leader in the field of rheumatology and a champion for individuals living with scleroderma.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to receive the Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award,” says Dr. Mayes. “Throughout my career, I have dedicated myself to the study and treatment of scleroderma, a complex and challenging disease. This recognition is not only a personal milestone, but also a reflection of the incredible collaboration I’ve shared with dedicated researchers, clinicians, and—most importantly—the patients who inspire our work every day. Our collective goal has always been to improve the lives of those affected by scleroderma, and I hope this award signifies that we are making meaningful progress toward that mission.”
Distinguished Clinician Scholar Award
The Distinguished Clinician Scholar Award, given to a rheumatologist who has made outstanding contributions in clinical medicine, clinical scholarship or education, was presented this year to Atul A. Deodhar, MD, MRCP, FACR, FACP, professor of medicine and medical director of rheumatology clinics in the Division of Arthritis & Rheumatic Diseases, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland.
Dr. Deodhar received his MBBS and MD degrees from the University of Pune, India, MRCP degree from the Royal College of Physicians, London, and another MD (PhD equivalent) from the University of Bath, England. He completed his residency in internal medicine in King Edward Memorial Hospital, Pune, as well as at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, England. He completed a research fellowship in rheumatology at the Royal Cornwall Hospital and Royal Mineral Water Hospital, Bath, followed by a fellowship in rheumatology at Oregon Health & Science University. He is board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology and is a fellow of the ACR and the American College of Physicians.
As the medical director at Oregon Health & Science University, Dr. Deodhar transformed a monodirectional rheumatology clinic into nine super-specialty multidisciplinary clinics, including the rheumatology-dermatology combined clinic for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, an axial spondyloarthritis clinic, a rheumatology-dermatology combined lupus clinic, a scleroderma clinic, a vasculitis clinic, a rheumatology-neurology myositis clinic, a rheumatology-pulmonary interstitial lung disease/sarcoidosis clinic, a fibromyalgia clinic and an ultrasound-guided joint injection clinic.
In collaboration with the Indian Health Service, he established a quarterly clinic at Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Oregon, which he has run for 20 years. Dr. Deodhar is the editor in chief of Best Practice & Research: Clinical Rheumatology. His research focuses on clinical trials of novel agents in the treatment of axial spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis and RA, as well as the epidemiology of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. He has authored three books, more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, editorials and several book chapters for Harrison’s Textbook of Medicine and others. He has been a principal investigator for more than 100 clinical trials.
Dr. Deodhar has served the ACR on various committees, including the Annual Meeting Planning Committee, for which he served as vice chair for two years, the Treatment Guidelines Subcommittee and the Peripheral MRI Task Force, and as the associate editor of the ARP’s Advanced Rheumatology Course. He served on the rheumatology board of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is a past chair of the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN) and has served on the steering committee of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA), the medical and scientific advisory board of Spondylitis Association of America and the Arthritis Foundation Great West Region.
“It is a profound honor—and a true career highlight—to receive the Distinguished Clinician Scholar Award from the American College of Rheumatology,” says Dr. Deodhar. “Rheumatology has afforded me the unique privilege of making a meaningful difference in the lives of patients, not only through clinical care but also by contributing to research that advances our field. Practicing medicine across three countries and continents, I have been fortunate to learn from exceptional mentors, dedicated trainees and the patients who have entrusted me with their care.”
Distinguished Fellowship Program Director Award
The Distinguished Fellowship Program Director Award is given to a current or former rheumatology program director who has made outstanding contributions in the mentoring and training of future rheumatologists; this year’s recipient is Kenneth S. O’Rourke, MD, MACR, who just retired from private practice in Portland, Maine, and as chief of the Division of Rheumatology at Maine Medical Center, Portland. Prior to that he was professor of medicine and served as the rheumatology program director for 22 years at Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Dr. O’Rourke obtained a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He graduated as valedictorian from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, D.C., then completed internal medicine training at David Grant USAF Medical Center, Fairfield, Calif., remaining there first as chief resident, then as staff internist and program director of the Transitional Year residency, while concurrently serving on the volunteer clinical faculty at the University of California, Davis. He subsequently completed rheumatology fellowship training at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, prior to his Wake Forest appointment.
As a clinician educator, Dr. O’Rourke has developed a career creating, providing, directing and mentoring exceptional learning opportunities across the continuum of graduate and post-graduate medical education. In addition to his role as a program director, while at Wake Forest he served on numerous medical education committees, including chairing the second-year medical school curriculum committee. He is a founding and active member of the Carolinas Fellows Collaborative (CFC), a consortium of program directors and their fellows whose work over the past 20 years has included materials that have served as the foundation for subsequent national curricula.
For the ACR, Dr. O’Rourke participated in the creation of the Rheumatology Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) and Rheumatology Curricular Milestones, and was a member of the ACGME Milestones 2.0 Working Group in the creation of the Rheumatology Milestones 2.0. He currently serves as chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Rheumatology Board Certification and Maintenance of Certification Exam Committee.
Dr. O’Rourke has received teaching awards from learners at all institutions where he has worked, was a 2001–04 recipient of an ACR Clinician Scholar Educator Award and was designated an ACR Master in 2024. His ACR committee work began as a member, then chair, of the Executive Committee of the ACR/ARHP Rehabilitation Rheumatology Committee, and over time has included serving on the Committee on Education, the Committee on Training and Workforce, serving as chair of its Curriculum Subcommittee, the Annual Meeting Planning Committee twice, and as an education grant reviewer for the Rheumatology Research Foundation. He has contributed enduring materials for the Continuing Assessment, Review and Evaluation program, the ARP Advanced Rheumatology Course and the adult Virtual Rheumatology Practicum, and has been honored to speak numerous times at the ACR’s annual meetings.
“I am supremely honored and humbled to be recognized by the ACR for my work as a program director and educator,” says Dr. O’Rourke. “Words cannot adequately convey what a privilege it has been to contribute over my career to the training of rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals, and to be included in the group of my colleagues who have won this award.”
Distinguished International Rheumatology Professional Award
The Distinguished International Rheumatology Professional Award is presented to a rheumatologist or rheumatology health professional outside the U.S. and Canada for exceptional contributions in public service and advocacy to the global rheumatology community. This year’s recipient is Rohini Handa, MD, DNB, FRCP (Glasg), FAMS, FACR, senior consultant rheumatologist, Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi.
Dr. Handa is a distinguished rheumatologist, academic leader and educator with a career spanning more than four decades. He graduated at the top of his MBBS class from Government Medical College, Patiala, India, and completed his residency at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, where he later joined the faculty. In 1995, he was awarded a World Health Organization fellowship at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, further expanding his international academic exposure.
Dr. Handa heads the Doctorate of National Board program in rheumatology at Apollo Hospital. A passionate teacher and compassionate clinician, he has trained generations of medical students while delivering high-quality care to countless patients. His efforts have played a central role in shaping rheumatology education and practice in India. He has been instrumental in strengthening the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRA) and advancing global partnerships, particularly between the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) and the ACR. His outreach work has promoted rheumatology in underserved regions across Asia. He has delivered more than 550 invited lectures, including nearly 25 named lectures, keynotes and orations at leading national and international platforms. He is also the author of the widely acclaimed Clinical Rheumatology, published by Springer.
Key leadership roles that Dr. Handa has held include president of the IRA (2009–11), president of APLAR (2010–12), chair of International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR; 2012) and dean of the Indian College of Physicians (2017–18).
Dr. Handa has served on the editorial boards of leading journals, including Rheumatology Oxford, Clinical Rheumatology, Indian Journal of Rheumatology, Best Practice & Research: Clinical Rheumatology, African Journal of Rheumatology, Indonesian Journal of Rheumatology and Journal of the Association of Physicians of India.
In recognition of his lifelong dedication, the Indian Rheumatology Association honored Dr. Handa as a Master in 2022, the same year he received the Master Teacher Award from the Indian College of Physicians. In 2023, he was bestowed the MN Passey Award, the highest recognition from the IRA. He was awarded the MN Sen Oration and Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize from the Indian Council of Medical Research and the IRA Oration by the Indian Rheumatology Association. He was named Distinguished Academician by Apollo Hospitals in 2018 and received the Dr. IA Modi Award for Distinguished Clinician from the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin in 2021.
“The ACR award recognizes my commitment to advancing global rheumatologic care,” says Dr. Handa. “I’m honored—and inspired—to continue the international collaboration that improves patients’ lives worldwide.”
Distinguished Service Award
The ACR Distinguished Service Award, given to an ACR member for outstanding and sustained service to the ACR, was presented to Carlos J. Lozada, MD, professor of clinical medicine and associate chief for clinical affairs, Division of Rheumatology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and director, Rheumatology Fellowship Program, University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center.
Dr. Lozada, who was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, completed a BA in biology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar, and his medical degree at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Dr. Lozada pursued his residency in internal medicine at North Shore University Hospital/Cornell University Medical College, Manhasset, N.Y., and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and completed his rheumatology fellowship at New York University Medical Center/Hospital for Joint Diseases. He has been on the faculty in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine since 1994, serving on the medical staffs of the University of Miami Hospital and Clinics and Jackson Memorial Hospital.
For more than 28 years, Dr. Lozada has served as director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Program at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center and as the director of the Jackson Memorial Hospital Rheumatology Clinic, training numerous medical students, residents, international rotators and over 50 rheumatology fellows. He has also served in other roles at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, including as co-director of the Rheumatology Research Unit, associate chief for education, chief (acting) and, currently, associate chief for clinical affairs of the Division of Rheumatology.
Dr. Lozada has authored multiple peer-reviewed publication and textbook chapters, particularly in the area of osteoarthritis. He has also served on the editorial boards for various published and online journals, including Osteoarthritis and Cartilage and the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology. Dr. Lozada has worked in volunteer positions for many organizations, particularly the ACR, where he has served on such committees as Training and Workforce, Communications, Finance and Nominations, as well as on the Board of Directors of the ACR and of the Rheumatology Research Foundation. He chaired the ACR task force that implemented the use of the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and the Medical Subspecialties Match in rheumatology, and was a member of the group that developed the first rheumatology national in-training exam.
Dr. Lozada has also been the ACR representative to the Board of Directors of the U.S. Bone and Joint Decade. He has also served as chair of the ILAR Executive Committee and president of Pan-American League of Associations for Rheumatology (PANLAR), where he served as secretary-general and president of the Science and Education Committee.
“Without a doubt, volunteering for the ACR and other organizations has been immensely rewarding and one of the highlights of my professional career,” says Dr. Lozada. “The multiple experiences, as well as the relationships and friendships forged, have been priceless. I would encourage all to give of their time to the ACR and actively participate in building the future of our society and specialty to the benefit of those with rheumatic diseases.”
Excellence in Investigative Mentoring Award
Dr. Neogi
The Excellence in Investigative Mentoring Award recognizes the importance of the mentor/mentee relationship. This award honors active ACR or ARP members for their contributions to the rheumatology profession through outstanding and ongoing mentoring. This year, the award was presented to Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD, and Pamela Weiss, MD, MSCE.
Dr. Neogi completed her medical school, residency and rheumatology fellowship training at the University of Toronto in Canada. She is currently professor of medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine (BUSM), endowed Alan S. Cohen Professor of Rheumatology, professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health and chief of rheumatology at BUSM and Boston Medical Center.
As a rheumatologist and PhD-trained epidemiologist, Dr. Neogi’s research focuses on OA, the most common form of arthritis and a leading cause of disability worldwide, and gout, a disease with suboptimal management despite availability of effective treatments. She has ~400 peer-reviewed publications and has had continuous grant funding since completion of her clinical training. Research contributions have included insights into risk factors for OA, the role of pain sensitization and other alterations in nociceptive signal processing in the nervous system in the pain experience in OA and other rheumatic diseases, triggers for gout flares, and application of novel methodology to rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease research. For her numerous research contributions to the field, Dr. Neogi received the 2014 ACR Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award, an honorary doctorate from Lund University, Sweden, in 2021, and the 2022 Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) Clinical Research Award.
A major focus of Dr. Neogi’s career has been mentoring early-stage investigators from a wide variety of disciplines, many of whom have successfully obtained career development grants and academic positions. She received her institution’s Research Mentoring Award in 2016 and a National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) K24 grant that supports time for mentoring. She is also principal investigator (PI) of a NIAMS-funded T32 training grant, aimed at preparing MD and PhD postdoctoral scholars for careers in clinical research in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. Beyond her direct research mentoring, she founded and served as the inaugural director of the BU Clinical and Translational Science Institute PRIME (Pathways to Research Independence and Mentoring Excellence) Program, which facilitates the transition from mentored career development grants to independent research funding. She served as co-PI on a Doris Duke Foundation grant supporting the retention of clinician-scientists and on an Arthritis Foundation grant to attract the next generation of rheumatology trainees.
Dr. Neogi has served the ACR in multiple capacities over the past 15 years. Most recently, she is chair of the ACR Quality of Care Committee, which oversees criteria, guidelines, guidance and quality measures. She has previously served as co-chair on the Classification and Response Criteria Subcommittee, co-chair of an ACR abstract category, advisory editor for Arthritis & Rheumatology and in leadership roles in ACR OA and gout treatment guidelines, as well as in ACR-EULAR classification criteria for RA, gout and calcium pyrophosphate deposition.
“This award is especially meaningful because I was nominated by former mentees, some of whom are now collaborators, and I’ve even had the opportunity to mentor some of their own mentees—a mentor ‘grandparent’ of sorts,” says Dr. Neogi. “I enjoy witnessing the success of others whose journeys I may have played even a small role in helping to shape, and I’m honored that something I find rewarding is being recognized by the College.”
Dr. Weiss
Pamela Weiss, MD, MSCE, is a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, and serves as attending and clinical research director in the Division of Rheumatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She completed her undergraduate studies at Princeton University, N.J., medical school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and pediatric residency and rheumatology fellowship at CHOP. She also earned a Master of Science in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Weiss’s research centers on early diagnosis, precise phenotyping and targeted treatment of pediatric spondyloarthritis (SpA). She has led the development of several key tools and measures, including the Juvenile Spondyloarthritis (JSpA) Disease Activity Index (JSpADA), the JSpA Flare Outcome (JSpAflare) and magnetic resonance imaging-based definitions of sacroiliac joint lesions characteristic of axial disease in juvenile SpA. She also spearheaded the development and validation of classification criteria for axial involvement in juvenile SpA.
Her expertise spans clinical trials, comparative effectiveness research, pharmacoepidemiology and leading multicenter collaborations. She is the principal investigator on a NIAMS K24 mentoring award focused on developing the next generation of pediatric rheumatology researchers. Her mentees have gone on to receive funding from the NIH and foundations, and have earned distinctions including ACR Distinguished Fellow Awards, Rheumatology Research Foundation Investigator Awards, and NIH K awards, reflecting her strong commitment to mentorship and academic development.
Dr. Weiss has held numerous national leadership roles, including on the ACR Pediatric Rheumatology Special Committee and Guidelines Subcommittee, and as co-chair of the Juvenile Arthritis Treatment Recommendations Committee. She contributed to the Axial SpA Systematic Review Panel and has been an invited educator for the ACR Virtual Rheumatology Practicum.
Her work has been recognized with the ACR Distinguished Fellow Award in 2008, the Spondylitis Association of America Jane Bruckel Young Investigator Award in 2014 and the ACR Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award in 2020. She was elected to the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network Board and appointed to the Spondylitis Association of America Medical and Scientific Board in 2018. She also served as vice-chair and chair of the Juvenile Arthritis Research Committee for the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA, 2013–2019) and was elected to the advisory council of the Pediatric Rheumatology Collaborative Study Group in 2019, supporting academic engagement in pharmaceutical trials.
“Being recognized by the ACR and my colleagues with the Excellence in Investigative Mentoring Award is a tremendous honor,” says Dr. Weiss. “Mentorship has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding aspects of my career, and I feel privileged to have worked alongside so many talented and inspiring mentees. To know that they nominated me for this recognition is both humbling and deeply gratifying, as it reflects the mutual growth and shared achievements that mentoring makes possible.”
Henry Kunkel Early Career Investigator Award
The Henry Kunkel Early Career Investigator Award is given to physician-scientists who are within 12 years of post-rheumatology certifying examination eligibility and who have made outstanding and promising independent contributions to basic, translational or clinical research in the field of rheumatology. This year’s recipient is Deepak Rao, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Boston, where he holds the Jonathan S. Coblyn and Michael B. Brenner Endowed Chair in Rheumatology and Immunology.
Dr. Rao completed his MD and PhD at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., with a PhD in immunobiology, and then completed his internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He has run an independent laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital since 2018, and he co-directs the BWH Center for Cellular Profiling.
Dr. Rao has made seminal contributions to understanding the nature of pathologic T cell responses in patients with RA and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). He led a study that discovered a population of T peripheral helper (Tph) cells in RA; these cells have now been implicated in numerous autoimmune diseases. He has supervised multiple studies dissecting the development, regulation and function of Tph cells in RA and SLE, which have nominated strategies to disrupt the functions of these cells therapeutically. In addition, he has used broad immune profiling approaches to highlight specific features of immune dysregulation in patients with lupus, inflammatory arthritis following immune checkpoint blockade therapies, and systemic sclerosis, and in patients with rare inflammatory diseases evaluated in the Undiagnosed Diseases Network.
Dr. Rao serves on the Board of Directors of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) and was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigators in 2025. He was awarded the Edmund L. DuBois, MD, Memorial Lectureship by the ACR in 2022 for excellence in lupus research and recently received the Lupus Insight Prize from the Lupus Research Alliance. He has received career development awards from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Doris Duke Foundation. In addition, he received the Award for Mentoring from the Biomedical and Biological Sciences graduate program at Harvard Medical School in 2022.
“I’m honored to receive this prestigious recognition from my colleagues in rheumatology,” says Dr. Rao. “It’s been immensely rewarding to work with many outstanding colleagues over the past 12 years to better understand the immune dysregulation that occurs in rheumatic diseases. I take this recognition as encouragement to continue the effort to translate an understanding of immune drivers of disease into immunologic metrics that can guide clinical decisions and improve treatment outcomes.”
Patrice Fusillo is a writer and editor based in Oakland, Calif.
