Robbins has held leadership roles with the AF on both the national and local levels. She chaired the national board of directors in 2005 and 2006 and served in several leadership roles with the New York Arthritis Foundation, including the board of directors, vice chair, and treasurer. She is also a past president of the National Arthritis Health Professions Association and board member–at-large at the ACR. She has also held several other positions with the ACR.
Robbins recently partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the NIH on a major public health agenda that was announced in early February to raise awareness about arthritis as a major public health issue. She has pushed for increased federal funding to encourage more physicians to choose pediatric rheumatology as a subspecialty. For the past four years, Robbins has worked with the AF and the ACR to get Congress to support the “Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act.” The key provisions of the bill include portability of health plans, insurance coverage for medications for children with rheumatic disease, and increased funding for basic science and translational research on rheumatic disease.
She has spent much of her career over the past 20 years doing both basic science and translational research. Her many studies include research into cognitive rehabilitation intervention and quality of life for patients with lupus, clinical and economic outcomes of patients with total joint replacement, and educational interventions for lupus patients experiencing signs of cognitive dysfunction.
Robbins is the editor of the book, Clinical Care in Rheumatic Diseases, published by the ARHP. In addition to her position at the Hospital for Special Surgery, she is also an associate professor at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
In all of these roles, Robbins says she has strived to be an advocate for people with rheumatic disease. “My primary goal has always been to raise the awareness of the public and elected officials about the needs of people with rheumatic disease,” says Robbins.
Terry Hartnett is a medical journalist based in Pittsburgh.
