Transforming developments:
The dynamic face of rheumatology

Ferry Breedveld is Professor of Medicine at Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Professor Breedveld received his medical degree from Leiden University Medical School. He completed his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the University Hospital, Leiden before joining Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA, USA as a junior faculty member. In 1987, Professor Breedveld was appointed Associate Professor of Medicine at Leiden University, becoming Professor of Medicine in 1989. During his time as Professor of Medicine, Professor Breedveld has also held the posts of Head of the Department of Rheumatology (1989–2006), Chairman of the Department of Medicine (1999–2006), and Chairman of the board of directors (2006–2015) at the Leiden University Medical Center.

Professor Breedveld is an active member of the Dutch Societies of Rheumatology, Internal Medicine, and Immunology, the British Society of Rheumatology, and the American College of Rheumatology. Between 2007 and 2009, he was President of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR).

Professor Breedveld’s research interests include the pathophysiology of rheumatic disease and the development of rational therapies. He has published >900 peer-reviewed scientific papers, is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Advances in Rheumatology, and a past and present editorial board member of several rheumatology journals. Professor Breedveld is also a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science and Master of the American College of Rheumatology. In 2015, he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion in recognition of his services to science.

Boulos Haraoui is Associate Professor of Medicine at the Université de Montréal and Head of the Clinical Research Unit in Rheumatology at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) and the Institut de Rhumatologie de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Professor Haraoui received his medical degree from Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon. Following his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the University of Montreal, he completed a research fellowship at the Arthritis Branch of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, USA.

Professor Haraoui is a past chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Canadian Rheumatology Association (CRA). He is also a past chairman of the CRA Research Committee, previously known as the Canadian Initiative for Outcomes in Rheumatology Care (CIORA). With several colleagues, he established the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH) and is Vice Chair of the CATCH Scientific Advisory Committee.

Professor Haraoui serves on several provincial, national, and international educational and advisory committees, with a focus on the diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis. He has lectured extensively in Canada, South America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. In 2012, he was the recipient of the Quebec Rheumatologist Association Award and he received the CRA Distinguished Rheumatologist Award in 2014.

Wouter Bos is a rheumatologist at Reade, and a project manager for the Molecular Diagnostics In Rheumatoid Arthritis (MODIRA) consortium at Reade Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which investigates potential predictors for efficacy of biologic therapies in rheumatology.

He graduated from the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam with a degree in Medicine, and completed his postgraduate training at Reade and Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, in 2009. He subsequently worked as a resident in internal medicine at Kennemer Gasthuis, Haarlem, the Netherlands and was a resident rheumatologist at VU Amsterdam.

Dr. Bos’s research focuses on the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with a particular interest in the role of autoantibodies in the development of RA. In collaboration with the software company Brightfish he helped develop the ReumaMeter app, a free Dutch-language app that enables patients to record their symptoms, giving insights into fluctuations in disease activity.

As one of the webmasters, he is an active member of the Dutch Rheumatology Society.

Lisa Olson is responsible for the oversight and strategic development of AbbVie's immunology research program, and is Site Head for AbbVie Bioresearch Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.

Dr. Olson received her PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois in 1986. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago, Illinois, she joined the faculty of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. In 1998, Dr. Olson left Washington University to lead the Women’s Health Program within the Nutrition Sector of Monsanto Corp., St. Louis, and 2 years later she joined the Arthritis and Inflammation Department at Pharmacia Corp., St. Louis, which subsequently evolved into the Inflammation Department of Pfizer Corp. Dr. Olson joined AbbVie (formerly Abbott) in 2005 as Director, Pharmacology, and has had roles of increasing responsibility ever since. In 2008, she was promoted to Senior Director, Pharmacology and Discovery Safety, Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, and in 2010, became Vice President, Immunology Research. Dr. Olson became Site Head of AbbVie Bioresearch Center in 2012.

Dr. Olson has published >30 peer-reviewed articles in journals, and has authored six patents. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives.