S. Louis Bridges, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., Chief
The Division of Rheumatology of the Weill Cornell Department of Medicine comprises the rheumatologists, affiliated health care professionals, and researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). HSS rheumatologists offer outstanding patient care across the full spectrum of autoimmune and inflammatory rheumatologic disorders for more than 40,000 outpatient visits per year. The full-time faculty includes 36 adult rheumatologists, 5 pediatric rheumatologists, and collaborating endocrinologists and infectious disease specialists. The division also is responsible for providing perioperative medical assessment and postoperative medical care to 16,000 patients per year undergoing orthopedic surgical procedures at HSS.
The division is recognized for its high impact research that has advanced understanding and treatment of significant diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Through close collaboration among rheumatologists and physician-scientists at the HSS Research Institute, productive research initiatives are defining the immunologic and molecular basis of autoimmune diseases, establishing the mechanisms involved in altered bone quality, and identifying therapeutic targets that lead to novel drug development programs. Investigator-initiated clinical trials, particularly in systemic sclerosis, have suggested promising therapeutic approaches for diseases with high morbidity. Clinical research studies conducted by rheumatologists and orthopedic surgeons are establishing the risk factors for complications following joint surgery and investigating disparities in access to and outcomes of orthopedic surgery. HSS rheumatologists are leading collaborative efforts to establish treatment guidelines for reproductive health in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases and classification criteria for antiphospholipid syndrome.
Education and training are among the highest priorities of the Division of Rheumatology. HSS rheumatologists lead components of the Weill Cornell Medical College curriculum, and internal medicine residents rotate through the rheumatology clinics at HSS. Adult and pediatric rheumatology fellowship programs provide experience in patient evaluation, management in our continuity clinics, and through consultation on patients with acute rheumatologic disease admitted to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, along with required research experience. The division established the Academy of Rheumatology Medical Educators to support education research projects and to increase the productivity and recognition of rheumatologists dedicated to careers as clinician scholar educators.
Our close integration into the clinical, education, and research activities of our York Avenue sister institutions is exemplified by our important role in education at all levels of training, the participation of our faculty in the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Science, and our participation in the Weill Cornell Clinical and Translational Science Center.
