CRAJ Summer 2020

Summer 2020 (Volume 31, Number 2)

Awards, Appointments, and Accolades

Paul Adam, MSW –Addie Thomas Service Award

The Addie Thomas Service Award is presented by the Association of Rheumatology Professionals (ARP) to a member who has been an active volunteer involved with local, regional, national, and/or international arthritis-related activities.

Recently retired, Paul began working at the Mary Pack Arthritis Program (MPAP) in 1989, first as a social worker and then in an administrative role. He has an extensive volunteer history with the Arthritis Health Professions Association (AHPA) and ARP. His work and volunteer activities have encompassed the study and/or implementation of projects related to patient advisory groups, patient-reported outcome measures, patient self-employment, eHealth tools, health professional eLearning, and communities of practice. He is currently the President-Elect of AHPA.

Dr. Ciarán Duffy – CRA Master Award

Dr. Ciarán Duffy, a pediatric rheumatologist, Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa and Chief, Department of Pediatrics, CHEO, and recipient of an ACR Master Award at the Annual Meeting of the ACR, November 2020, is the 2021 recipient of a CRA Master Award.

“It is a tremendous honour to be recognized by the CRA with a Master’s Award and to join the list of former recipients, several of whom have been mentors to me, a very highly distinguished group,” said Dr. Duffy. “I am truly humbled to be a recipient of this award.”

The CRA Master Award, newly created in 2019, is a high honour bestowed on members of the CRA, over the age of 65 years, who have distinguished themselves throughout their career in the field of rheumatology in one of clinical care, education, research and leadership. Dr. Duffy meets the bar in all four areas, having garnered significant national and international recognition for his scholarly contributions, throughout his very distinguished career. Congratulations to Dr. Duffy on receipt of this great honour.

Dr. Mary-Ann Fitzcharles – CRA Master Award

A career in rheumatology over the last 40-plus years has been a privilege and a joy. Reflecting on those years, as is custom at this time in life, many thoughts come to mind. I will therefore take the privilege of stepping outside the usual comfort zone and dare to note a few memorable persons and instances that I have encountered along this rheumatology road.

I am forever grateful to the late Prof. Derrick Brewerton of HLA B27 fame who was my advisor and friend in London, UK, and guided me in the direction of rheumatology; trembling in my shoes when Dr. Dafna Gladman was my oral examiner for rheumatology; Dr. John Esdaile, with his beautiful fountain pen script who edited our very early papers on fibromyalgia (FM), and told me that FM and pain could be a good career path; literally cutting and pasting a spread sheet on the dining room table with Dr. Matilde Boisset, (a fellow a quarter of a century ago), as we did the analysis of the first FM and sexual abuse paper; Dr Chris Pineau, my wise, knowledgeable and extraordinary boss; and oh so special, all the trainees who participated to bring our clinical studies to fruition…

And then for those amazing patients who I have had the privilege to follow over the years. Just to think of a few: I can still see the young woman with SLE admitted to a nightingale ward of 40 patients at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town in the 1970’s with only corticosteroids as a treatment; the lady farmer who was knocked off her bicycle and developed FM, prompting the concept of a pain condition triggered by an event…and so the story of FM unfolded over the next 20 some years; the delightful but totally non adherent 18-year-old student with RA, who is now a 50-year old delightful and totally adherent high school principal beautifully managed on a biologic; the 80-year-old lady with RA who expressed her disappointment in me for not managing her pain adequately, until she slipped a few of her husband's pain pills; the home made cookies at Christmas with the one batch identified as “special”, which I never dared taste: and the many patients who in so many ways have taught me the nuances of medicine, have contributed to teaching our students, and have advocated for the cause of rheumatology patients in Canada. It is with great humbleness that I thank the CRA for this award.

Dr. Jamie Henderson – CRA Master Award

Dr. Jamie Henderson, one of three recipients of the 2021 CRA Master Award, was a community-based rheumatologist for 35 years in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He has participated in CRA activities for many years and has served as a board member, treasurer, executive member and served as President from 2010 through 2012. He has also served on the board of the Journal of the Canadian Rheumatology Association (CRAJ). He is currently the President of the Board of the Journal of Rheumatology. He has assisted the Arthritis Society with fundraising and provided many community programs in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island over the years. He was presented with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal at the behest of the Arthritis Society in 2012. He was awarded the Distinguished Rheumatologist Award by the CRA in 2020. He is now retired and trying to improve his golf game in Fredericton.

Dr. Andrea Knight – Mary Betty Stevens MD, Young Investigator Prize (Lupus Foundation of America)

Dr. Andrea Knight is a pediatric rheumatologist at the Hospital for Sick Children, an Associate Scientist at the SickKids Research Institute, and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. The Mary Betty Stevens MD, Young Investigator Prize is given annually by the Lupus Foundation of America in recognition of the exceptional achievements of an investigator in the early part of his or her independent career in lupus research. Dr. Knight recently received the Young Investigator Prize, as the first pediatrician recipient, for her work investigating the burden of psychiatric morbidity, health outcomes and disparities, as well as strategies to improve comprehensive care for patients with childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus. She is also leading collaborative research within the Childhood Arthritis & Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA), as the current Lupus Section Vice-Chair and co-leader of the Mental Health Workgroup.

Dr. Anthony Perruccio – Distinguished Scholar Award

Dr. Anthony Perruccio was awarded the American College of Rheumatology’s Association of Rheumatology Professionals Distinguished Scholar Award, presented to a member who demonstrates exceptional achievements in scholarly activities pertinent to arthritis and the rheumatic diseases. Dr. Perruccio is an epidemiologist and scientist at Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Krembil Research Institute, and associate professor at Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. His research focuses on identifying distinct subgroups in osteoarthritis in both clinical and population-based samples, with particular focus on multijoint involvement, comorbidity, systemic inflammation and sex differences. Dr. Perruccio also collaborates closely with the Arthritis Society in efforts to make arthritis data accessible and to increase awareness of the considerable burden of arthritis in Canada.