Meet the RTA
steering committee

Douglas Veale is Professor of Medicine, Director of Translational Research and Consultant Rheumatologist at the Centre for Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease, St. Vincent’s University Hospital. He is also lead of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Centre of Excellence in Rheumatology based at St. Vincent’s University Hospital.

Francesca Spinelli is an Assistant Professor of Rheumatology at Sapienza University of Rome. She is a member of the Italian Society of Rheumatology (SIR) and a steering committee member of Cardiovascular and Obesity and Rheumatic DISeases (CORDIS), a study group of the SIR. In 2016, she co-founded Reumatologhe Donne (ReDo; Italian Association of Women Rheumatologists).

Hendrik Schulze-Koops is Professor of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He was elected as Scientific Chair and member of the Scientific Core Programme Committee of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), and is President of the German Society of Rheumatology.

Janet Pope is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Western University, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. She is also the Division Head in Rheumatology at St. Joseph’s Health Care, London, Ontario. Dr Pope has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles, 300 abstracts and several Cochrane meta-analysis reviews, as well as mentored over 100 students and trainees.

Kunihiro Yamaoka is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Rheumatology and Infectious Diseases at Kitasato University. His major interest is in translational research, currently investigating the possibility of using JAK inhibitors in non-RA diseases and novel pathways that relate to the disease activity of RA.

Laure Gossec is Professor of Rheumatology at Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière and Université Pierre et Marie Curie. Prof Gossec serves on the Executive Committee of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and is a founding member and past chairperson of the Emerging EULAR Network (EMEUNET). She also serves on the executive leadership committee of Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT), where she is chair of the patient stream.

Stephen Hall is an Associate Professor at Cabrini Medical Center as well as the owner and Medical Director of Emeritus Research. He founded Emeritus Research in 2000, which has coordinated and conducted over 200 clinical trials to date. Dr Hall has also been a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne Institution for Rehabilitation Research since 2001.

Willem Lems is a Professor of Rheumatology at Amsterdam University Medical Center, location VU University Medical Center. He is the Educational Officer of the Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center (ARC), and a member of both the scientific committee of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and the European Calcified Tissue Society (ECTS).