Rheumatology Research Foundation President Eric Matteson, MD, MPH, recognized 142 award recipients on Monday at the Foundation’s annual Awards Luncheon. Held at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel, the event honored the accomplishments of Foundation-funded students, residents, educators, fellows, and professionals who are working to improve patient care. In congratulating the award recipients, Dr. Matteson emphasized the impact of their work in the lives of patients and in the field of rheumatology.
Attendees represented the diverse range of Foundation awardees, from students and residents to health professionals to established investigators. Roughly half of the Foundation’s funding supports education and training opportunities, which help to recruit, train, and keep the best and brightest in the field. Other awards finance research into the cause, progression, and treatment of rheumatic diseases. Projects cover a variety of rheumatic diseases including gout, inflammatory arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, Sjögren’s syndrome, spondyloarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and systemic sclerosis.
With a mission to improve the health of people with rheumatic diseases, the Foundation has granted more than 3,400 individual awards and committed more than $153 million directly to research and training since 1985.