Summary
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.
