Past ACR President Named a PANLAR Master

Dr. Crow

During the 2025 Congress of the Pan-American League of Rheumatology (PANLAR), held in Mexico City, April 23–26, Mary (Peggy) K. Crow, MD, was designated a PANLAR Master of Rheumatology. Dr. Crow is a professor of medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical School and its Graduate School of Medical Sciences and senior scientist and attending physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), New York. This distinction is awarded to individuals whose scientific contribution and/or recognized academic work has contributed significantly to the development of rheumatology in their country.

Dr. Crow, a former ACR president and Henry Kunkel Society president, said she experienced a warm reception from PANLAR attendees, and that it was very gratifying to receive this honor—not just the award itself, “but what it means for other people having a relationship with you and your work.”

Creating Connections

Dr. Crow’s interactions with her South American colleagues began during her years as a new faculty member at HSS, when she first met Eloisa Bonfá, MD. At the time, Dr. Bonfá worked in a laboratory adjacent to one run by Keith B. Elkon, MD, who is now professor emeritus, Division of Rheumatology, University of Washington School of Medicine.

“I followed [Eloisa’s] career, and when I was chair of ACR’s Annual Meeting Planning Committee, suggested that she be invited to be a committee member,” Dr. Crow said. This marked a series of collaborations with Dr. Bonfá, a native of Brazil, who is now professor of Rheumatology at Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, São Paulo, which is the largest tertiary referral center for autoimmune rheumatic disorders in Latin America.

As co-developer and co-director of the Mary Kirkland Center for Lupus Research at HSS, Dr. Crow had a close relationship with Kirkland Center donors Katherine and Arnold Snider. With their support, she developed a Kirkland Scholars Program. That funded program allowed Graciela Alarcón, MD, then chair of rheumatology at the University of Alabama, to sponsor early career investigators from Peru, her native country, as well as those from Mexico and Argentina.

Dr. Crow has also collaborated with Danieli Andrade, MD, PhD, a Brazilian-trained investigator who was a research fellow with Jane E. Salmon, MD, the Collette Kean Research Chair at HSS.

Research

Dr. Crow’s career in research began with post-college employment as a research technician in an immunology laboratory. She credited her mentor, the late Marc Weksler, MD, with giving her independence in research and the guidance to seek a medical degree.

During her senior residency year at Cornell Medical Center, she had the opportunity to train at The Rockefeller University with the late, renowned immunologist Henry G. Kunkel, MD, and stayed at The Rockefeller University for four years.

Dr. Crow’s time at Cornell and HSS has been exceedingly productive. Her contributions have increased our understanding of the mechanisms that initiate and amplify altered immune function and tissue damage, especially in lupus.

She now spends most of her time on research with the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets to treat lupus or prevent its manifestations.

Gretchen Henkel is a health and medical journalist based in California.