Late Summer 2023’s Awards, Appointments & Announcements in Rheumatology

PANLAR Names Eric L. Matteson, MD, a 2023 Master

Throughout his career at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., Eric L. Matteson, MD, currently professor of rheumatology, emeritus, actively engaged with his rheumatology colleagues in Latin America. He participated in conferences, worked on South American publications and brought rheumatology fellows to the Mayo Clinic for training. Collaborations have continued into his retirement—Dr. Matteson is a long-standing scientific advisor on the editorial board for Revista Colombiana de Reumatologia and is currently working on a special edition for that journal focused on autoimmune lung disease. As a testament to his ongoing collaborations, PANLAR named Dr. Matteson a Master of Pan American Rheumatology at the 25th Pan American Congress of Rheumatology, held April 26–29 in Rio de Janeiro.

Although unexpected, Dr. Matteson says, the recognition was gratifying. He has enjoyed attending and presenting at several PANLAR meetings, and has worked with the organization’s representatives in many capacities.

Dr. Matteson’s command of Spanish has improved over the years, he reports, and he can now “give a PowerPoint presentation and talk in Spanish. That’s been fun for me because you learn more about people and their cultures when you know something of their language.”

During his time at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Matteson took time off to serve with the Indian Health Service, working at the Owyhee Duck Valley Reservation with the Shoshone-Paiute people in Nevada.

“My viewpoint is that healthcare is a right—but that doesn’t mean it’s accessible to everyone. Following the medical ethos, one should provide care and medical education within one’s possibilities to those who are less fortunate.”

Through his affiliation with Minnesota Doctors for People, Dr. Matteson and his wife now travel periodically to San Lucas Tolimán, in the Guatemalan highlands, to work with a hospital that provides outreach and primary care to people in outlying villages.

These trips also afford Dr. Matteson an opportunity to participate in a bird migration monitoring program through a partnership between his local Audubon Society chapter and a Guatemalan monitoring station, thus combining another of his passions.

Dr. Matteson is also involved with the ACR’s Global Engagement Committee, which focuses on global collaborations regarding education, training, research, and volunteering. “It’s richly rewarding to work with people of other cultures,” he says, “and to learn about their health system challenges and to try to help with that.”

John J. O’Shea, MD, Elected to U.S. National Academy of Sciences

Each spring, at the conclusion of its annual meeting, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Washington, D.C., announces the election of its new members. On May 2, Scientific Director of Intramural Research at National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) John J. O’Shea, MD, was elected a new member to the NAS in the biomedical sciences section.