Advisors
Dinesh Khanna
MD, MS
University of MichiganAnn Arbor (MI), USA
Dinesh Khanna is Professor of Rheumatology and Director at the University of Michigan Scleroderma Program, which program sees approximately 1,200-1,500 unique patient visits on an annual basis. Dr. Khanna has published over 520 peer- reviewed articles and book chapters. He has won numerous awards, including the 2011 “Best Doctor of the Year” award from the Scleroderma Foundation and the prestigious 2015 Henry Kunkel Award from the American College of Rheumatology. Dr. Khanna was inducted into the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) in 2023. He has been included in the Stanford’s Top 2% Scientists list from 2021-2023.
Dr. Khanna has expertise in developing and validating outcome measures for clinical trials and led the development of the revised Combined Response Index in Systemic Sclerosis (an NIH/NIAMS-funded effort), which is now included as primary, secondary and exploratory measures in ongoing trials and is undergoing FDA Qualification. Dr. Khanna’s research has focused on the development of outcome measures and refinement of trial design in scleroderma. Based on his expertise in trial design and outcome measures, he co-led the EULAR Points to Consider recommendations for trial design in SSc and will chair a project with the NIH and his FDA colleagues to develop a white paper for clinical trials in SSc.
Chris Denton
PhD FRCP
Royal Free Hospital and Division of Medicine University College London (UCL), UKChristopher Denton is Professor of Experimental Rheumatology at UCL and a consultant Rheumatologist at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He has published extensively on laboratory and clinical aspects of connective tissue disease including systemic sclerosis and its organ-based complications.
Professor Denton leads a large clinical and translational research programme in scleroderma at the Royal Free Hospital and co-ordinates multidisciplinary care for more than 1500 patients. He chairs the UK Scleroderma Study Group (UKSSG). He is Associate Editor for Arthritis Research and Therapy, Advisory Editor for Arthritis and Rheumatology and a Committee Chair of the Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium (SCTC). He delivered the prestigious British Society for Rheumatology BSR Heberden Clinical Round in 2017.
Madelon Vonk
MD, PhD
RadboudumcNijmegen, the Netherlands
Madelon Vonk is associate professor systemic sclerosis and works as rheumatologist at the department of rheumatology of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center. In her daily work she combines care, research and teaching. Her passion is to improve outcomes in systemic sclerosis (SSc). In her hospital she has created a structure in patient care that fosters clinical, translational and basic research in SSc and initiated the Radboud biobank for SSc for this cause. She has initiated a nationwide shared-care network with her department as the national referral center. Her center is acknowledged as an NFU expertise center on systemic autoimmune diseases and a full member of the European Reference Network on Connective Tissue and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ERN ReCONNET). With her cohort, the largest in the Netherlands, her team has performed studies on epidemiology, pathophysiology and treatment in SSc with impact on care throughout the world. Dr. Vonk’s research focuses on early diagnosis and treatment and development of personalized medicine. She has a close collaboration with the patient organization and trained patient partners, and performs and initiates basic, translational and clinical research as well as sponsor-initiated research. Furthermore, she is part of the steering committee of the EULAR update of treatment recommendations in SSc and part of the national guideline committee on SSc as well. From 2019 to 2022 she served the EUSTAR as counsellor and was the coordinator of clinical projects. Dr. Vonk is the coordinator of the ERN ReCONNET for her hospital and member of the ERN LUNG for pulmonary hypertension.
Frank van de Hoogen
MD, PhD
RadboudumcNijmegen, The Netherlands
Frank van den Hoogen is emeritus professor of Rheumatology and former head of the Departments of Rheumatology of the Radboudumc and Sint Maartenskliniek. His career spans 40 years as practicing rheumatologist, with a focus on rheumatic autoimmune diseases, especially systemic sclerosis (SSc). Dr. Van den Hoogen’s vast scientific output includes the role of methotrexate as disease modifier in systemic sclerosis and the establishment of the American/European classification criteria for systemic sclerosis. He was an early adaptor of performing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) as disease-modifying treatment option for progressive diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc), especially to start HSCT very early in the course of the disease in selected patients. Dr. Van den Hoogen was one of the first to acknowledge the promise of T-Guard as a less invasive and potentially safer treatment than HSCT that could become available to a larger group of dcSSc patients.