The Center’s investigators focus on answering challenging questions related to better understanding the etiology and outcomes of potentially debilitating autoimmune diseases in order to improve patient care, says Dr. Barbhaiya.
“Furthermore, the Barbara Volcker Center’s dedication and support for the career development of junior faculty members is particularly unique, especially in a very challenging funding environment,” she says.
Paul Volcker Reflects on Center Named for His Wife
During a telephone interview from his home, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, 90, says he is delighted with the Center’s accomplishments over the years and says he is sure that if Barbara Volcker were alive she would be “very pleased and happy that her name was attached to it, no doubt in my mind.”
Barbara Volcker had a severe case of RA and a lifelong battle with diabetes. She died in 1998 at the age of 68; Paul Volcker married his current wife, Anke Volcker, in 2010.
“There was no cure for rheumatoid arthritis—and I guess there isn’t now—but there are a lot better treatments for it now than there were 20 or 30 years ago,” says Paul Volcker.
When asked what he hopes for the future of the Center, he chuckles and says, “Well of course, I’d like to see it go on, but I won’t be here forever. … I’d like them to conquer autoimmune disease and lupus in women.”
Catherine Kolonko is a medical writer based in Oregon.
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