Dr. Zahi Touma

August 25, 2022 3:18 pm Published by

    Dr. Zahi Touma, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Clinician-Scientist with the University of Toronto and Scientist with the Krembil Research Institute and Schroeder Arthritis Institute.  He is Staff Rheumatologist with the University Health Network/Mount Sinai Hospital, and adjunct scientist with the Institute for Work and Health.

    His research is focused on patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and measurement science with a particular interest in the assessment of disease activity, patient reported outcomes and cognitive function. One of his most significant contributions has been the development of the SLE disease activity indices – the SLEDAI Responder Index-50 (S2K RI-50) and SLEDAI-2K Glucocorticoids Index (SGI).

    Dr Touma is a co-chair of the Criteria Subcommittee of the Quality of Care Committee of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for the development of classification and response criteria for rheumatic diseases. He is also the coordinator/co-instructor of the measurement in clinical research course at the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation (IHPME), UofT. Another major focus of his research is the assessment of cognitive impairment in patients with SLE.  Dr. Touma has established the NeuroLupus Program which consists of a team of experts in psychometrics, neuropsychology, neurology, psychiatry, measurement and bioinformatics with the goal of developing improved methods of identifying cognitive impairment in SLE and understanding its course over time and impact on health-related quality of life and productivity. Dr. Touma is a co-chair of the SLE OMERACT (Outcome Measures in Rheumatology) Working Group aiming to update the core domain set and instruments in SLE.

    Dr. Touma’s work has been supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Arthritis Society of Canada, Lupus Canada and Physician Services Incorporated and the Lupus Research Alliance, and Lupus Ontario.  In February of 2021 he was the recipient of the Canadian Rheumatology Association Emerging Investigator Award.   He is also the recipient of an Early Researcher Award from the Province of Ontario, Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade and salary awards from the Arthritis Society, Canadian Rheumatology Association CIORA and the Department of Medicine, UofT.  He sits on the Advisory Boards of Lupus Ontario and the Lupus Foundation of America.

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    This post was written by Francesca Cardwell