Biologics for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Professor Ronald F van Vollenhoven is Chief of the Unit for Clinical Therapy Research,Inflammatory Diseases (ClinTRID) at the Karolinska Institute, and of theClinical Trials Unit Rheumatology at the Karolinska University Hospital. Hereceived his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Leiden in TheNetherlands. After graduating in 1984 he pursuedimmunology research at Cornell Medical College in New York, followed by aresidency (specialty training) in internal medicine at the State University ofNew York at Stony Brook, and a fellowship in rheumatology at StanfordUniversity in Palo Alto following which he received American Board of InternalMedicine certification in both internal medicine and rheumatology. From 1993 to1998 Professor van Vollenhoven held a faculty appointment as AssistantProfessor of Medicine in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology atStanford University, and from 1995 he was the Medical Services Chief andFellowship Director in that division.In 1998 Professor van Vollenhoven movedto Stockholm, Sweden, where he worked as a Senior Physician and Chief of theClinical Trials Unit in the Department of Rheumatology at the KarolinskaUniversity Hospital and Associate Professor of Rheumatology; and in 2010, hewas appointed in his current position as Professor and Unit Chief at theKarolinska Institute.Professorvan Vollenhoven’s research interests focus around the development andsystematic evaluation of biologic and immunomodulatory treatments for therheumatic diseases. With his co-workers, he has established the Stockholmregistry for biological therapies (the STURE database) for this purpose, whichhas supported research projects relating to clinical efficacy, pharmacology,outcomes, and pharmacoeconomics. He has been principal investigator in manyclinical trials of novel therapies in rheumatic diseases and has contributed toa number of important investigator-initiated trials including the SWEFOT trial.He has published over 240 original papers, book chapters and reviews, and isEditor of the textbook Targeted Treatment of the RheumaticDiseases and associate-editor of Dubois’ Lupus Erythematosus.In 2004, Professor van Vollenhoven was awarded the Scandinavian Research FoundationPrize for excellence in clinical research in rheumatology, and he is anhonorary member of several rheumatology societies. He is the Editor-in-Chief ofLupus Science & Medicine, Chair of the EULAR Standing Committee on ClinicalAffairs, member of many editorial boards, past-chair of the SwedishRheumatology Society Professors’ Council, co-founder of the IRBIS registry forbiologics in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the CERERRA registries collaboration,and the NORD-STAR collaboration for Nordic trials in the rheumatic diseases,and the initiator of the Treat-to-Target-in-SLE initiative. Professor vanVollenhoven lives just north of Stockholm with his wife and children aged 20and 16. Outside his professional life he is an avid classical pianist.

• Disease overview.- General treatment aspects.- Overview of biologic therapies.- Cytokine inhibitors.- B-cell directed therapy.- T-cell directed therapy.- Novel biologics and small molecules with biologic-like effects.- Strategies for the optimal use of biologic agents in rheumatoid arthritis.- Considerations for special patient populations.- Conclusions and future outlook