 | This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage .(June 2020) |
Michelle Leech AM FRACP is the Deputy Dean of Medicine at Monash University [1] and an academic clinician-scientist. Leech oversees the delivery of the Monash medical program and maintains an active research profile and clinical practice as a rheumatologist.
Leech graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (Hons) from Monash University in 1987. She went onto residency training in internal medicine at Prince Henry’s Hospital and advanced physician training in rheumatology at Monash Health. Leech completed her PhD at Monash University’s Centre for Inflammatory Diseases and the Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians training program in 2000. [2]
Leech is a consultant physician and currently serves as Head of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinic at Monash Health. [3] In 2014, Leech was the Medical Director of Arthritis Australia. [4] She has served on a number of National Rheumatology Advisory Boards, including Janssen-Cilag, Novartis, Abbvie, UCB, Cortical and MSD. [4]
Leech is part of the rheumatology research group in the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health. [5] Her research interests are focused on cytokine biology, glucocorticoid action and cell cycle proteins in the context of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis. She also maintains an active research profile in medical and interprofessional education. Leech has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers, . [2] Her most cited papers are:
Leech is currently[ when? ] a Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Medicine at Monash University, Nursing and Health Sciences.. [7] Prior to this appointment, Leech was director of the undergraduate medical program at Southern Clinical School (now the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health).[ citation needed ] Other appointments include Deputy Chairperson, Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria, [8] Vice President, Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand, [4] and member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, Arthritis Australia [9]
In 2010, Leech received funding from the Department of Health and Ageing to develop interprofessional learning opportunities at Monash University and Southern Health (now Monash Health). [10]
In 2017, Monash University’s medical program moved from a Bachelor of Medical Science and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) to a Doctor of Medicine (MD) under Leech’s leadership. [11] Leech also serves on the Royal Australasian College of Physicians examination panel. [4]
Rheumatology is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatology covers more than 100 different complex diseases, collectively known as rheumatic diseases, which includes many forms of arthritis as well as lupus and Sjögren's syndrome. Doctors who have undergone formal training in rheumatology are called rheumatologists.
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including arthritis and "non-articular rheumatism", also known as "regional pain syndrome" or "soft tissue rheumatism". There is a close overlap between the term soft tissue disorder and rheumatism. Sometimes the term "soft tissue rheumatic disorders" is used to describe these conditions.
A nurse-led clinic is any outpatient clinic that is run or managed by registered nurses, usually nurse practitioners or Clinical Nurse Specialists in the UK. Nurse-led clinics have assumed distinct roles over the years, and examples exist within hospital outpatient departments, public health clinics and independent practice environments.
John Cosh (1915–2005) was a British rheumatologist. He is known for his long term studies of the effects of rheumatoid arthritis, co-discovery of the genes associated with rheumatoid arthritis, and his work on the benefits of herbal medicines.
The American College of Rheumatology is an organization of and for physicians, health professionals, and scientists that advances rheumatology through programs of education, research, advocacy and practice support relating to the care of people with arthritis and rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.
Michael D. Lockshin is an American professor and medical researcher. He is a researcher of autoimmune diseases, with focus on antiphospholipid syndrome and lupus. He is currently professor of medicine and obstetrics-gynecology at the Weill-Cornell University Medical College in New York City. In addition, he is director of the Barbara Volcker Center for Women and Rheumatic Disease and co-director of the Mary Kirkland Center for Lupus Research, both at the Hospital for Special Surgery
Matthew H. Liang is a physician specializing in social rheumatology, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Health Policy and Management at Harvard School of Public Health, and the Director of Special Projects of the Robert B. Brigham Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Clinical Research Center which he founded. At the Brigham and Women's Hospital he is Medical Director of Rehabilitation Services. He is a founding faculty of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and a founding faculty of the Clinical Effectiveness Program at the Harvard School of Public Health and is a Study Director in the Veterans Administration Cooperative Studies Program.
Ephraim Engleman was an American rheumatologist and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He had a major national and international impact on rheumatology during more than six decades, and wrote more than one hundred scientific and medical papers.
Terri H. Finkel is an American pediatric rheumatologist and immunologist who is the Children's Foundation of Memphis Endowed Chair and tenured professor of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Previously, she was the pediatrician-in-chief, chair of pediatrics and chief scientific officer at Nemours Children's Hospital. She is known for her research into autoimmunity, AIDS, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and cancer. Her work has been recognized in more than 200 publications, 10 U.S. patents, and 4 licensed technologies. Finkel has been placed in the top one percent of American pediatric rheumatologists by U.S. News & World Report. Her numerous honors include being named among America's Top Doctors by Castle Connolly every year since 2011 and induction into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.
Gary S. Firestein is an American rheumatologist, professor, and founding director of the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute (ACTRI) at the University of California San Diego and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences at University of California, San Diego.
Paul-Peter Tak is an immunologist and academic specialising in the fields of rheumatology and immunology. In addition to academic research, he served as an executive of several pharmaceutical companies.
Dafna D. Gladman, MD, FRCPC, is a Canadian doctor and medical researcher working in the fields of psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis. She is a professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and Senior Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute. She is Deputy Director, Centre for Prognosis Studies in the Rheumatic Diseases, Co-Director, Lupus Clinic, Toronto Western Hospital (TWH) and Director, Psoriatic Arthritis Program, Toronto Western Hospital.
Lars Klareskog is a Swedish physician, immunologist, and rheumatologist, known for research into the genetics of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Rachelle Buchbinder is an Australian rheumatologist and clinical epidemiologist. Her clinical practice is in conjunction with research involving multidisciplinary projects relating to arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions. She promotes improvement of communication with patients and health literacy in the community.
Ross E. Petty is a Canadian pediatric rheumatologist. He is a professor emeritus in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and a pediatric rheumatologist at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada. He established Canada’s first formal pediatric rheumatology program at the University of Manitoba in 1976, and three years later, he founded a similar program at the University of British Columbia.
Sherine E. Gabriel is an Egyptian–Canadian rheumatologist and administrator. She is the fourth president of Rush University and James A. Campbell, MD, Distinguished Service Professor, having formally served as Dean of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. In 2020, Gabriel was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine for "her leadership in academic medicine and recognition for being an inspiring thought leader in research, clinical business development and educational innovation."
Nancy E. Lane is an American rheumatologist. She is an Endowed Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology, and Aging Research at the University of California, Davis and director of the UC Davis Musculoskeletal Diseases of Aging Research Group. She has also sat on the editorial boards of Nature Reviews Rheumatology, Rheumatology,Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism,Arthritis & Rheumatology, and The Journal of Rheumatology.
Lindsey A. Criswell is an American rheumatologist and physician-scientist. She is director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Criswell was vice chancellor of research at University of California, San Francisco where she held the Jean S. Engleman Distinguished Professorship in Rheumatology.
Robert H. Carter is an American rheumatologist and physician-scientist serving as the deputy director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) since 2008. He was the acting director of NIAMS from December 2018 until February 2021.
Mariana J. Kaplan is a Mexican-American rheumatologist and physician-scientist. She researches mechanisms of immune dysregulation, organ damage, and premature vascular disease in systemic autoimmunity. Kaplan is chief of the systemic autoimmunity branch at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
