Q: What is it about rheumatology that keeps you so engaged?
A: A combination of the intellectual challenge of diagnosing and treating rheumatic diseases, along with the huge opportunity to make a difference in patients’ lives, is the essence of being a rheumatologist. And, not least, helping our fellows, residents and students share our excitement—you can’t beat it.
Q: What is the value of mentoring?
A: The importance of mentorship cannot be underestimated. It isn’t just the imparting of knowledge, the practical advice and the help in making connections. Mentorship is a very powerful expression of the mentor’s belief in what they do and, even more importantly, of their belief in their mentee.
Q: What does an award from your peers mean to you?
A: It is such an extraordinary honor to win this award, and so truly humbling when I think of what it means to be endorsed by my peers in this way, not to mention to see my name alongside the past recipients.
ACR Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award
Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of Rheumatology, Professor of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Background: Ask Dr. Khanna where his interest in scleroderma and clinical research comes from, and he says the answer is easy: excellent mentors at the University of California Los Angeles, where he completed both his fellowship and Master’s degree.
“My mentors taught me to be honest, fair, hardworking and accountable,” he says. “I have tried to incorporate these qualities as I mentor [more than] 30 investigators around the globe.”
