Susan Manzi, M.D., MPH is System Chair, Department of Medicine, Allegheny Health Network and Professor of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine and Co-Founder and Director of the Lupus Center of Excellence, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Sue graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and rheumatology at Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; while at Pittsburg she earned a Master of Public Health.

Dr. Manzi co-founded the Lupus Center of Excellence as a new model for Integrated Patient Care and Clinical-Translational Research. This Center services patients from around the world. Dr. Manzi has served on numerous NIH study sections and is a member of several NIH Data Safety and Monitoring Boards.

Currently, Dr. Manzi serves as Medical Director for the Lupus Foundation of America; she has published over 200 reports of research in autoimmunity. She authored the book, ‘Lupus the Facts’ in 2008. Dr. Manzi is co-inventor of a biomarker platform of blood tests for autoimmune disease diagnosis, monitoring and prognosis. These efforts have resulted in six awarded or pending patents and exclusive licensing of this technology to Exagen Diagnostics, Inc. The diagnostic test is now commercially available. She is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in lupus patient care and research, and a pioneer in scientific investigation of cardiovascular disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Søren Jacobsen is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health Sciences and a senior consultant at the Copenhagen Lupus and Vasculitis Clinic, Center for Rheumatology and Spine Diseases, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. He graduated from the University of Copenhagen Medical School in 1988. He subsequently obtained a DMSc and completed his training in rheumatology and internal medicine also in Copenhagen. Professor Jacobsen is the Chief Editor of the Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, a longstanding board member of the Danish Rheumatism Association and a full member of the Danish Medico-Legal Council.

Søren’s main research focus is on epidemiological and clinical cohort studies and on studies on the pathogenesis of autoimmune rheumatic diseases and their comorbidities with emphasis on systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory myopathies, systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The later studies are supported by tight collaborations developed with several specialized immunological laboratories; they are directed against adaptive and innate immunity, which have implications in early as well as later stages of these diseases. Perspectives for this research are to identify biomarkers for early diagnosis and treatment targets. This will hopefully aid the development of immunomodulating therapies of autoimmune rheumatic diseases without the characteristics consequences of traditional immunosuppression inducing various iatrogenic comorbidities. Professor Jacobsen has published extensively and supervised several PhD students.

Dr. John Hanly is Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) and Pathology at Dalhousie University and Attending staff physician at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada). He is the Director of the Dalhousie University Lupus Clinic in Halifax. He obtained his medical degree from the National University of Ireland in 1978 and trained in general internal medicine and clinical rheumatology in Ireland prior to immigrating to Canada in 1984. He undertook clinical fellowships in Rheumatology and Immunology at the University of Toronto and McMasterUniversity before joining the Faculty of Medicine at DalhousieUniversity in 1987.

John is the Past Chair of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC). He has published over 150 scientific articles, the majority in lupus; he has received several awards in recognition of his achievements in clinical research in lupus.

Dr. Hanly’s major research focus is the study of pathogenic mechanisms and clinical outcomes in lupus, with emphasis on ways in which lupus may affect the brain and other parts of the nervous system. This work is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Dr. Fortin is Full Professor and Clinical Researcher at the ‘Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec’, ‘Université Laval’ (Quebec City) where he graduated from. He trained in Rheumatology at McGill University and obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health at Harvard University; this was followed by three years of training in clinical epidemiology under Dr. Matthew H. Liang.

At Laval, Paul is actively building a research program on Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases (SARD). Before joining Laval, he was on the faculty at McGill University and at The University of Toronto. At McGill, he was funded uninterruptedly by operating grants from The Arthritis Society (TAS) and/or the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Dr. Fortin has been working on understanding the bio-psycho-social impact of chronic rheumatic diseases including lupus, the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, SARD, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. He is particularly interested in developing interventions for the treatment of these conditions.

Dr Fortin has published extensively; he is authored over 400 scientific publications, about half of them in lupus. He has received numerous awards including the CRA Young Investigator Award (1999), the Kirkland Scholar Award (2008); the Distinguished Senior Research Investigator Award (Canada’s TAS, 2007 – 2012), the Hope Award from Lupus Ontario (2010), a tier 1 Canada Research Chair in SARD and the Jeffrey Shiroky Research Award for his accomplishments in clinical research in rheumatology (2015).

Dr. Ann Clarke is a Professor in the Division of Rheumatology in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada and holds The Arthritis Society Chair in Rheumatic Diseases. She established the University of Calgary Lupus Clinic in 2013 and is its current Director. She obtained her medical degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada and trained in General Internal Medicine and Immunology at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. She completed a Master’s degree in Health Services Research at Stanford University, California prior to joining the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University in 1993. She was co-Director of the McGill University Health Centre Lupus Clinic prior to re-locating to the University of Calgary in 2013.

Ann is an established investigator in the epidemiology, economics, and outcomes of systemic lupus erythematosus. She has been the recipient of the American College of Rheumatology Edmund Dubois Memorial Lectureship Award in recognition of her research in SLE. Her research focuses on the risk and determinants of malignancy in SLE and the long-term economic costs associated with accrual of SLE-associated organ damage.

Dr. Clarke is the current Chair of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC). She has received support from numerous Canadian and American peer-reviewed granting agencies, has published 300 scientific articles, about two-thirds of them in lupus. She is very engaged in the training of the next generation of lupus clinicians and investigators.

Dr. Cynthia Aranow is a Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Medicine at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Hofstra School of Medicine in New York. She received her medical degree from New York University and completed her rheumatology training at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in Bronx, NY. She is a recipient of the American College of Rheumatology Edmund Dubois Award in recognition of her research in SLE. She has also received the Collaborative Women in Science Award on two occasions from AWSM (Advancement of Women in Science and Medicine).

A rheumatologist and lupus expert, Cindy has cared for hundreds of patients with this complex disease and believes that patients and their physicians must partner together in order for there to be significant progress. Her research focuses on lupus outcomes as well as both translational projects which include studies investigating the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric lupus, and clinical trials of novel agents and approaches for the treatment of SLE. These trials are both pharmaceutically sponsored and investigator initiated. She is currently a protocol chair of an NIH-funded clinical trial investigating an innovative approach for treatment of lupus nephritis; she is also the principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health-funded Autoimmunity Center of Excellence at the Feinstein Institute. She has published over 100 publications focused on different aspects of lupus. Dr. Aranow is proud to be a member of Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) which continues to be a rewarding experience.