LUPUS 2025 Committees

CONGRESS ORGANIZING & SCIENTIFIC PLANNING COMMITTEE

Zahi Touma
LUPUS Congress Chair

Zahi Touma MD, PhD, FACP, FACR
Dr. Murray B. Urowitz Chair in Lupus Research at UHN
Director, Toronto Lupus Program at UHN
Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto
Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation
Institute of Medical Sciences
Adjunct Scientist, Institute for Work and Health
Clinician-Scientist, Rheumatology, University Health Network
Scientist, Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Krembil Research Institute
Toronto Western Hospital, 399 Bathurst St., Room 1E-426
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 2S8

Dafna Gladman
LUPUS Congress Co-Chair, Scientific Chair

Dafna D. Gladman MD, FRCPC
Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto
Senior Scientist, Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Krembil Research Institute
Co-Director, Psoriatic Disease Program, University Health Network
Co-Director Lupus Clinic Toronto Western Hospital
Toronto Western Hospital, 399 Bathurst Street, 1E-410B
Toronto, Ontario, M5T 2S8, Canada

Joan Wither
LUPUS Congress Co-Chair, Scientific Vice-Chair

Joan Wither, MD PhD FRCPC
Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network
Division of Rheumatology, Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Toronto Western Hospital
Departments of Medicine and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada

Ali Duarte-Garcia
LUPUS Congress Co-Chair

Alí Duarte-García, M.D., M.Sc.
Director | Lupus Clinic
Consultant | Division of Rheumatology
Assistant Professor of Medicine | Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
United States

Murray Urowitz
LUPUS Congress Co-Chair

Murray Urowitz, M.B. Urowitz MD FRCP(C)
Professor Emeritus, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
University of Toronto
Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Toronto Western Hospital
Canada

LOCAL COMMITTEE

J. Antonio Aviña-Zubieta
Local Committee Member

J. Antonio Aviña-Zubieta MD, PhD, FRCPC
Associate Professor of Medicine and Head Division of Rheumatology - University of British Columbia,
BC Lupus Society Research Scholar, Walter & Marilyn Booth Research Scholar, Senior Scientist, Arthritis Research Canada

Joanne Bargman
Local Committee Member

Joanne M. Bargman, MD, FRCPC
Co-Director, Renal/Rheumatology Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Program, University Health Network,
Director, Home Peritoneal Dialysis Program, University Health Network, Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

Sasha Bernatsky
Local Committee Member

Sasha Bernatsky
Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre,
Department of Medicine, Montreal, Canada

May Choi
Local Committee Member

May Choi
Department of Medicine,
Cumming School of Medicine,
University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

Ann Clarke
Local Committee Member

Ann Clarke, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Professor, Division of Rheumatology,
Director, University of Calgary Lupus Centre of Excellence,
The Arthritis Society Chair in Rheumatic Diseases, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Paul Fortin
Local Committee Member

Paul R Fortin, MD, MPH, FRCPC
1) Professor of Medicine at Université Laval and Canada Research Chair on Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases;
2) Scientist, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec - Université Laval and Rheumatologist, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, CHU de Québec - Université Laval;
3) Co-Director of Centre ARThrite – UL;
Quebec City, Qc, Canada

Linda Hiraki
Local Committee Member

Linda Hiraki, MD, FRCPC, ScD
Canada Research Chair in Genetics of Rare Systemic Inflammatory Diseases, Associate Professor Pediatrics, Epidemiology, DLSPH, University of Toronto;
Clinician Scientist, Division of Rheumatology, Scientist, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Canada

Michelle Hladunewich
Local Committee Member

Michelle Hladunewich, MD, FRCP(C), M.Sc
Associate scientist, Biological Sciences, DAN Women & Babies Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute;
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Toronto;
Divisions of Nephrology and Obstetrical Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre;
Medical lead, glomerulonephritis and speciality clinics, Ontario Renal Network,
Canada

Arenn Singh Jauhal
Local Committee Member

Arenn Singh Jauhal MB, BCh, BAO, MSc, FRCPC
Staff Nephrologist, University Health Network
Glomerulonephritis Clinic,
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Canada

Stephanie Keeling
Local Committee Member

Stephanie Keeling, MD MSc FRCPC
Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada

Andrea Knight
Local Committee Member

Andrea Knight, MD, MSCE
Canada Research Chair in Mental Health and Chronic Disease of Childhood
Clinician Investigator, Division of Rheumatology, Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto
Associate Scientist, Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, SickKids Research Institute
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Canada

Carl Laskin
Local Committee Member

Carl Laskin
Associate Professor, Departments of Medicine (Rheumatology) and Obstetrics & Gynecology (REI), University of Toronto;
Managing Director, TRIO Fertility,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Alexandra Legge
Local Committee Member

Alexandra Legge, MD MSc FRCPC
Assistant Professor, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Research Scientist, Arthritis Research Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Deborah Levy
Local Committee Member

Deborah M. Levy, MD MS FRCPC
Clinical Director, Pediatric Rheumatology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Canada

Christine Peschken
Local Committee Member

Christine Peschken
Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba,
Division Head for the Division of Rheumatology,
Acting Division Head for the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba, Canada

Juanita Romero-Diaz
Local Committee Member

Juanita Romero-Diaz
Assistant Professor at the Department of Immunology and Rheumatology,
The National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition in Mexico City, Mexico

Cheryl Rosen
Local Committee Member

Cheryl Rosen
Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Jorge Sanchez-Guerrero
Local Committee Member

Jorge Sanchez-Guerrero, MD, MS
Professor of Medicine University of Toronto
Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology
Sinai Health System/University Health Network
Toronto, ON, Canada

Evelyne Vinet
Local Committee Member

Évelyne Vinet, MD, PhD
Co-Director, Lupus Clinic, McGill University Health Centre
Associate Professor, Rheumatology & Clinical Epidemiology, McGill University Health Centre
Department of Medicine, McGill University
Medical Scientist, Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
FRQS Clinical Research Scholar - Senior,
Canada

INTERNATIONAL SLE COMMITTEE

Olufemi Adelowo,
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Zahir Amoura,
Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, France

Simone Appenzeller,
University of Campinas, Brazil

Laurent Arnaud,
University Hospitals of Strasbourg, France

George Bertsias,
University of Crete Medical School, Greece

Ian Bruce,
Queen’s University Belfast, UK

Ricard Cervera,
University of Barcelona, Spain

Karen Costenbader,
Harvard Medical School, USA

Joseph E. Craft,
Yale University, USA

Maria Dall’Era,
University of California, San Francisco, USA

Betty Diamond,
Northwell Health, USA

Thomas Dörner,
Charite University, Germany

Andrea Doria,
Padova University School of Medicine, Italy

Ida Dzifa Dey,
Hospital Accra, Ghana

Antonis Fanouriakis,
Asklepieion General Hospital, Greece

Richard Furie,
Northwell Health, USA

Diana Gómez Martín,
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico

Luís Inês,
Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Coimbra, Portugal

David Isenberg,
University College Hospital, UK

Judith James,
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, USA

Michelle Kahlenberg,
University of Michigan, USA

Patricia Katz,
University of California, San Francisco, USA

Alfred Kim,
Washington University, USA

Sam Lim,
Emory University, USAPeter E. Lipsky,
AMPEL Biosolutions, USA

Meggan Mackay,
Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research New York, USA

Anselm Mak,
National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore

Joan T. Merrill,
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, USA

Chandra Mohan,
University of Houston, USA

Chi Chiu Mok,
Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong

Marta Mosca,
University of Pisa, Italy

Ioannis Parodis,
Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Virginia Pascual,
Cornell University, USA

Matteo Piga,
University of Cagliari, Italy

Guillermo J. Pons-Estel,
Centro Regionalde Enfermedades Autoinmunes y Reumáticas, Argentina

Chaim Putterman,
Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman,
Northwestern University, USA

Brad Rovin,
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, USA

Guillermo Ruiz-Irastorza,
Cruces University Hospital, UPV/EHU, Spain

Vibeke Strand,
Stanford University, USA

Yoshiya Tanaka,
University of Occupational and Environmental Health (UOEH), Japan

George Tsokos,
Harvard Medical School, USA

Manuel Francisco Ugarte-Gil,
Universidad Cientifica del Sur, Peru

Ronald F. Van Vollenhoven,
Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Netherlands

Edward Vital,
University of Leeds, UK

Daniel Wallace,
Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, USA

Victoria P. Werth,
Penn Institute of Immunology, USA

Jinoos Yazdany,
University of California , USA

ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF PAST CHAIRS

1st     Marvin J. Fritzler, Canada & Eng M. Tan†, USA

2nd   Pao-Hsii Feng†, Singapore

3rd   Graham R.V. Hughes, UK

4th   Yehuda Shoenfeld, Israel

5th   Donato Alarcon-Segovia†, Mexico

6th   Munther A. Khamashta, UK

7th   Robert G. Lahita, USA

8th   Shunle Chen†, China

9th   John M. Esdaile, Canada

10th   Bernardo A. Pons-Estel, Argentina & Mary Carmen Amigo, Mexico

11th    Joseph F. Smolen, Austria

12th   Eric F. Morand, Australia

13th   Lindsey A. Criswell, USA

14th   Andrea Doria, Italy

15th   Sang-Cheol Bae, South Korea