Drs. Ernest Vina and C. Kent Kwoh's Lupus Study Featured in MedPage Today

Sep 9, 2015

The University of Arizona Arthritis Center's Ernest R. Vina, MD, MS, and C. Kent Kwoh, MD recently had their work on the effects of perceived racism in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) published in Lupus Science and Medicine and featured in MedPage Today. 

Dr. Vina is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from UCLA in 1999 and his Medical Doctorate from the Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine, in 2004.  He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Cedars Sinai Medical Center where he also completed a Health Services Research fellowship.  His Rheumatology fellowship was completed at the University of Chicago Medical Center in 2011, and he also earned a Master's degree in Health Studies.  He joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the UA Division of Rheumatology in 2014.

Dr. Vina’s research interests include racial disparities in systemic lupus erythematosus, treatment preferences,  racial disparities in osteoarthritis, quality of care and health services.

Dr. Kwoh is a Professor of Medicine and Medical Imaging in the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology and holds the Charles A.L. and Suzanne M. Stephens Chair of Rheumatology.  He serves as director of the University of Arizona Arthritis Center, a Center of Excellence in the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He was named to these positions in July, 2013.

His major research interests are in outcome assessment and the examination of risk factors for the development and progression of a broad spectrum of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. His current work focuses on the identification of biomarkers – most notably MRI imaging biomarkers for the development and/or progression of knee osteoarthritis and the characterization of knee pain patterns in osteoarthritis. He also has a major interest in the reduction and ultimately the elimination of disparities in the management of arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases.

To view the article in Lupus Science and Medicine, please click on the title below:

Perceptions of racism in healthcare among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a cross-sectional study 

To view the article in MedPage Today, please click on the title below:

Perceived Racism In Lupus Linked With Depression