Spring 2014 (Volume 24, Number 1)

Robert Inman Lectureship

By Claire Bombardier, MD, FRCPC

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In November of 2013, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Robert Inman Lectureship. This visiting professorship was established by
Dr. Claire Bombardier, current Rheumatology Division Director at the University of Toronto. Dr. Inman served as Division Director from 1991-2003 and this visiting professorship was created to honour his contribution to our University program, pay homage to his commitment to rheumatology, and feature his area of research: spondyloarthropathies.

Dr. Inman, originally from Toronto, completed his undergraduate degree at Yale University and his medical degree at McMaster University. He did his training in internal medicine at Vanderbilt University and his fellowship in rheumatology at Cornell University, based at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. He worked as a research fellow at the Hammersmith Hospital in London before returning to a faculty position as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cornell University. In 1983 he returned to Toronto. Presently, Dr. Inman is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Immunology and attending physician at Toronto Western Hospital. Internationally, Dr. Inman has held numerous leadership positions within the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), including President of the Northeast Region and membership on the Board of Directors. He is past-Chair of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of the Spondylitis Association of America (SAA).

He continues to be a leader in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), serving as a member of the Steering Committee of the International Ankylosing Spondylitis Genetics Consortium and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC). Locally, he is Director of the Arthritis Center of Excellence at The University Health Network, a multidisciplinary research program incorporating basic and clinical investigators. Dr. Inman has been the recipient of numerous research awards, including the Distinguished Investigator Award from the CRA and the Jonas Salk Award from the March of Dimes. Nationally, he was selected to deliver the Dunlop-Dottridge Lecture at the 1998 annual meeting of the CRA, along with receiving awards for the Woodbury Lectureship at Dalhousie University, the Ogryzlo Lectureship at the University of Manitoba, and the Little Lectureship at the University of Toronto.

Each year speakers are chosen who can emulate this type of dedication, teaching, and research in spondyloarthropathies. This event is well-attended and the reputation of the Robert Inman Lectureship continues to grow as it becomes a prestigious part of the University of Toronto citywide rheumatology rounds.

Claire Bombardier, MD, FRCPC
Professor of Medicine and Pfizer Research Chair in Rheumatology,
University of Toronto
Director,
Division of Rheumatology,
University of Toronto
Senior Scientist,
Institute for Work & Health and Toronto General Research Institute,
University Health Network
Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Transfer for Musculoskeletal Care
Co-scientific Director,
Canadian Arthritis Network
Toronto, Ontario