Faculty
ACR members created these modules.
Their names and brief biographies follow.
Curriculum Writers
Maren L. Mahowald, MD; Timothy J. Laing, MD; Ronald P. Messner, MD; Lynell
W. Klassen, MD
Curriculum Reviewers
Leonard Calabrese, DO; Joseph D. Croft, Jr., MD; Ralph DeHoratius, MD;
Bevra Hahn, MD; Scott Glickstein, MD; Deborah Kredich, MD; Nancy Lane,
MD; Matthew Liang, MD, MPH; James Louie, MD; Larry W. Moreland, MD; David
V. O'Dell, MD; Connie Parenti, MD; Craig Roth, MD; Deborah Whitley, PhD
Biographies
Maren L. Mahowald, MD
Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Minnesota
Medical School, Minneapolis, MN
Chief, Rheumatology Section, Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical
Center, Minneapolis, MN
Dr Mahowald was educated
in premedicine at St Olaf College, the University of Missouri, and Wagner
College, Bregenz, Austria, and in medicine at Womans Medical College of
Pennsylvania.
Dr Mahowald was elected to
the American College of Rheumatology, where she has been a member of the
Board of Directors, the Finance Committee, the Planning Group and Chair
of the Education Materials Committee. She is presently the chair of the
Committee on Education. She also is a member of the National Society of
Clinical Rheumatologists and the Central Society for Clinical Research,
where she chaired the Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy subsection.
Dr Mahowald has published research articles on a wide range of topics,
including immune cell function in health and disease, microvascular injury
in experimental arthritis and mechanisms and interactions of antiinflammatory
drugs. She also has worked to develop a number of animal models of musculoskeletal
disorders and has contributed medical textbook chapters on fatigue; pain;
chronic infectious, gonococcal, and infectious arthritis; and rheumatology
rehabilitation. Recently, her investigations have focused on the use of
sulfasalazine in the treatment of rheumatic diseases, sleep disorders
in rheumatoid arthritis, opioid use and abuse in patients with rheumatic
disease, and the identification of depression in patients with arthritis.
Timothy J. Laing, MD
Associate Professor and Associate Chair for Clinical Programs, Department
of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor,MI
Dr Laing earned his AB degree
in psychology from Harvard University, from which he was graduated magna
cum laude, and obtained his MD degree from the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor.
Dr Laing's publications in
peer-reviewed journals include papers on cellular cytotoxicity in intravenous
drug abusers, involvement of the trachea and larynx in Wegener's granulomatosis,
treatment of gastrointestinal vasculitis due to systemic lupus erythematosus,
and ultrasound in the assessment of osteoarthritis. Recently he has studied
the epidemiology of scleroderma, exposure to pesticides and herbicides
as risk factors for undifferentiated connective tissue disease, and virtual
geometric modeling of the knee.
Ronald P. Messner, MD
Professor of Medicine and Director, Division of Rheumatology, University
of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN
Dr Messner received his BA
degree from Oberlin College and his MD degree from the University of Chicago
Medical School.
Dr Messner is a member of
a number of learned societies, including the American Society for Clinical
Investigation, the Central Society for Clinical Research, the Society
for Experimental Biology and Medicine, the New York Academy of Science,
the American College of Physicians, and the American College of Rheumatology.
For the ACR, he was a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Academic
Rheumatology. Dr Messner has published over 125 original and review articles
and textbook chapters on numerous topics, including the role of lymphocytes
in rheumatic disease, the mechanisms of action of antirheumatic agents,
the etiology of polymyositis, the infectious causes of arthritis and myopathies,
the treatment of Lyme disease and systemic lupus erythematosus, bone marrow
transplantation in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, and the history
of rheumatoid arthritis.
Lynell W. Klassen, MD
Stokes-Shackleford Professor of Medicine and Vice Chairman, Department
of Medicine, University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha, NE
Associate Chief of Staff for Research, Veterans Administration Medical
Center, Omaha, NE
Dr Klassen received his AB
degree with highest honors from Tabor College and obtained his MD degree
from the University of Kansas School of Medicine.
Dr Klassen is a member of
many scholarly societies, including the American College of Physicians,
the American Society of Transplant Physicians, the American Association
of Immunologists, and the Central Society for Clinical Research. He has
served on a number of national committees, including the Biological Response
Modifiers Advisory Committee, Department of Health and Human Services,
and the Scientific Subcommittee of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism. His many contributions to the American College of Rheumatology
have included membership on the Education, Education Materials, Industrial
Relations, and Ethics Committees. Dr Klassen has published widely in peer-reviewed
journals on the following and other areas of research: the pathogenesis
of autoimmunity, cellular control of immune responses, control of graft-versus-host
disease, and multiple-drug therapy in rheumatic arthritis. In addition,
he has written books or book chapters on the lung in connective tissue
disease, the immune response to acetaldehyde adducts, bone marrow transplantation,
and autoimmune manifestations and the alcoholic liver. A current research
interest is the immune reactivity of proteins transformed by alcohol metabolites
and the role of bone marrow transplantation in autoimmune diseases.
