Through Journey to Cure, the REF will invest directly in activities that advance patient care and accelerate discoveries, providing hope to more than 50 million Americans affected by rheumatic diseases.
To reach these goals, the REF will build on the momentum created by the Within Our Reach campaign by advancing research leading to cures in the most serious of the rheumatic diseases—RA—and other conditions where inflammatory arthritis is a major pathology. At the same time, the REF will continue to support and expand its core grant portfolio that is designed to recruit and train future rheumatologists and rheumatology educators, develop future researchers, and foster the best novel research ideas in each niche of rheumatology.
The Journey to Cure campaign seeks to mobilize people from the patient, pharmaceutical, and rheumatology communities. Forging a path to cure rheumatic disease is a long and multifaceted journey, a road worth traveling because there are still many breakthroughs to be made for our children, grandchildren, and future generations.
As I look forward with excitement and enthusiasm to this new campaign and to my time as REF president, it is clear that our goals cannot be accomplished without a concerted effort from everyone who has a stake in our mission: not just REF leadership and staff, but also our ACR members, our industry partners, researchers, educators, advocacy groups, and patients and families affected by rheumatic diseases.
While the REF will continue to lead the way in helping rheumatologists and healthcare professionals improve the lives of those affected by rheumatic diseases, it must be a collaborative endeavor. A major goal of my presidency is to ensure that everyone who shares these objectives knows about the mission and good work of the REF, and that supporting the REF becomes a priority. With collective enthusiasm, effort, and commitment, we can truly reach the highest goals for our field. Together, we can advance patient care today while accelerating the course of research that will yield tomorrow’s cures.
David I. Daikh, MD, PhD, is president of the ACR REF; associate professor of medicine and director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco; and chief of the arthritis section at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.