Maura Daly Iversen, PT, DPT, SD, MPH
Associate editor of The Rheumatologist named distinguished scholar
The nonprofit National Academies of Practice (NAP) advises governmental bodies on the nation’s healthcare system. It is the self-proclaimed “only interprofessional group of healthcare practitioners and scholars dedicated to supporting affordable, accessible, coordinated quality healthcare for all.”
Maura Daly Iversen, PT, DPT, SD, MPH, of Northeastern University was recently elected a Distinguished Scholar and Fellow in NAP. Dr. Iversen was inducted at a Gala Membership Banquet on April 5 in Alexandria, Va. In addition to her primary occupation as professor and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences at Northeastern University, Dr. Iversen is an associate editor of The Rheumatologist.
John J. O’Shea, MD
2014 Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine awarded
The 2014 Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine was awarded to John J. O’Shea, MD, for his research in immunology and cytokine biology. Dr. O’Shea is the scientific director at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health.
The second annual Ross Prize goes to “an active investigator who has produced innovative, paradigm-shifting research that is worthy of significant and broad attention in the field of molecular medicine.” Dr. O’Shea’s discoveries uncovered the basic steps in cytokine signaling inside cells. His insights led to the idea of targeting Janus kinase, which led Pfizer to develop tofacitinib. When the FDA approved tofacitinib in 2012, it was the first oral therapy approved for rheumatoid arthritis in 10 years.
“We can block cytokines from inside the cell now,” says Dr. O’Shea.
Dr. O’Shea says his longstanding interest in “what cytokines do to cells and how they do it” continues as his research moves into epigentics and, perhaps, ultimately explains why humans develop autoimmune diseases.
Drs. Arnold & Sclamberg
Artisan medical practice opens doors in Illinois
A new orthopedic and rheumatology medical practice in Skokie, Ill., north of Chicago, is a family affair. More accurately, it’s a partnership of two families: the Arnolds and the Sclambergs. The father-daughter team of William Arnold, MD, FACP, MACR, and Erin Arnold, MD, FACR, has opened doors with the father-son team of Edward Sclamberg, MD, and Steven Sclamberg, MD.
The doctors left the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, according to Dr. Erin Arnold. “In a time of massive consolidation and ‘corporatization’ of healthcare, we thought it was the perfect time to form this type of ‘artisan’ practice.”
“Working with patients over a long time, you create a more intimate relationship with them. This will be a better way of caring for them, rather than in a corporate environment,” says Dr. Erin Arnold.
Yvonne van Eijk-Hustings, RN, PhD
Doctorate awarding for improving rheumatic disease patient care
Yvonne van Eijk-Hustings, RN, PhD, successfully defended her doctoral thesis in March and was awarded her PhD by Maastricht University in the Netherlands. The thesis addressed “Improving care for patients with rheumatic diseases.”
The first part of Dr. van Eijk-Hustings’ thesis addressed the cost effectiveness of interventions for newly diagnosed fibromyalgia patients with aerobic exercise vs. usual care.
The second part focused on the nurse’s role in caring for inflammatory arthritis patients. A survey of patients, nurses and rheumatologists in the U.S. and 22 European countries established a high level of agreement on several European League Against Rheumatism recommendations for the role of nurses in inflammatory arthritis management, their role in care and management and professional support for those nurses. However, daily practice showed a substantially lower level of the recommendation’s application.
Reasons given for disagreement with the recommendations and barriers to daily practice can serve as guides to develop strategies to improve implementation of the recommendations for rheumatology nursing care.
Gail Riggs, MA, CHES
Educator comes out of retirement—again
In Tucson, Ariz., Gail Riggs has lived with arthritis since she was six years old. With 49-year-old bilateral hip cup arthroplasties and two total knee replacements, the 75-year-old woman is back serving the community. “This is the second time I have come out of retirement (was I ever in it?).”
Ms. Riggs is a retired clinical lecturer in rheumatology and geriatrics at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a retired principal research specialist at the University of Arizona Arthritis Center, which she helped found. When she was the president of the Rheumatology Health Professionals Association in the 1980s, she logged “almost half a million frequent-flyer miles for meetings, speaking, teaching and representing RHPA,” she says.
Now, as volunteer chair of the Friends of the University of Arizona Arthritis Center and a patient instructor for the UAAC, Ms. Riggs says, “I also use my old, little body to show first-year medical students how exciting rheumatology is and how it has changed over the past 70 years.” She also serves on the Patient Safety Committee, Patient Care Improvement Committee, Patient and Family Advisory Council of the Tucson Medical Center, Arthritis Introspective, Tucson Arthritis Support League and the Old Fort Lowell Live-at-Home program.
It would appear that retirement has little appeal for Ms. Riggs.
Ann-Marie Lindstrom is an independent writer and editor based in the Tucson, Ariz., area.
