Northwestern Rheumatology's Division Chief Welcomes You

The programs of the Division of Rheumatology represent a broad base of activities, housed at the Feinberg School of Medicine and at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. A wide array of clinical services are provided to our patients at these institutions as well as the outpatient facilities of the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation. In addition to their appointments in the Department of Medicine, our faculty are also members of the Graduate School, the Departments of Immunology and Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, and the Office of Clinical Trials. Our research programs are broad-based and represent the disciplines of basic cellular and molecular biology, immunology, education, epidemiology, health services research, as well as clinical trials of new therapeutic compounds. The problems examined by faculty members include rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis.

The research of the Division is well supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Arthritis Foundation and the Veterans Administration Research Service. The Northwestern Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Center is one of only 13 in the United States and is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, supporting a variety of interdepartmental investigational activities. Our teaching programs include clinical undergraduate and graduate medical education, but also research training in not only the basic sciences but also in epidemiology and health services research.

This is an exciting time in rheumatology. Not only are we able to provide quality care for patients whose problems are very interesting and challenging and often go unaddressed, but we also have a unique opportunity to develop new insights into the basic mechanisms of disease. Furthermore, we are able to examine the effects of these problems at the population level and to find new and better ways to deliver care. Finally, we are using new therapies that have been developed, in many circumstances based on observations made in our own laboratories.

I invite you to examine the remainder of this Web site to find out more details about our programs. For patient appointments please call (312) 695-8628; for more information about clinical trials call (312) 503-6227; if you would like more information about our educational or research programs, please contact me by email.

Richard M. Pope, MD
Mabel Greene Myers Professor of Medicine
Chief, Division of Rheumatology