NIH Rheumatology Training Program

Tim Bhattacharyya, M.D. (Lab website)
Head, Clinical Orthopaedics, NIAMS
Clinical Faculty
Email: timothy.bhattacharyya@nih.gov

Education:
Orthopaedic Trauma Fellowship; Mass. General Hospital
Orthopaedic Surgery Residency; Boston University Medical Center
M.D.; Washington University School of Medicine

Interests:
- Atypical Femur Fractures
- Nonunions
- Hip and Knee Replacement

Rafael Casellas, Ph.D. (Lab website)
Acting Chief, Genomics and Immunity Section, NIAMS
Adjacent Investigator, NCI
Research Faculty
Email: rafael.casellas@nih.gov

Education:
Post-doctoral training; California Institute of Technology
Ph.D.; Rockefeller University

Interests:
- Genetic and molecular regulation in immune cells processes

Robert Colbert, M.D., Ph.D. (Lab website)
Chief, Pediatric Translational Research Branch, NIAMS
Clinical and Research Faculty
Email: robert.colbert@nih.gov

Education:
Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship; Duke University Medical Center
M.D., Ph.D.; University of Rochester School of Medicine

Interests:
- The role of HLAB27 in inflammation
- Molecular mechanismas of abnormal bone formation in spondlyarhtropathies

Stamatina Danielides, M.D.
Staff Clinician
Clinical Faculty
Email: stamatina.danielides@nih.gov

Education:
Rheumatology Fellowship; Columbia University, NY
Internal Medicine Residency; Georgetown University, Washington Hospital Center, Washington DC
M.D.; University of Padova, Italy

Interests:
- Pathogenesis of Sjögren’s syndrome

Raphaela Goldbach-Mansky, M.D., M.H.S. (Lab website)
Acting Chief, Translational Autoinflammatory Disease Section, NIAMS;
Adjunct Investigator NHGRI
Clinical and Research Faculty
Email: goldbacr@mail.nih.gov

Education:
Rheumatology Fellowship; NIAMS
Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency; Case Western University
M.D.; University Witten-Herdecke, Germany

Interests:
- Pathogenesis of the IL-1 mediated diseases (like NOMID and DIRA)
- Clinical responses to cytokine-blockade therapies
- Pathogenesis of CANDLE and other autoinflammatory childhood diseases

Mark Gourley, M.D.
Rheumatology Fellowship Program Director, NIAMS
Clinical Faculty
Email: mark.gourley@nih.gov

Education:
Rheumatology Fellowship; National Institutes of Health (NIAMS/ARB), Bethesda, MD
Internal Medicine Internship and Residency; University of Wisconsin
M.D.; Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

Interests:
- Pathogenesis and Treatment of SLE and Autoimmune Myositis
- Care for rheumatology patients in underserved communities
- Excellence in Rheumatology Education

Daniel Kastner, M.D., Ph.D. (Lab website)
Scientific Director, NHGRI; Adjunct Investigator, NIAMS
Clinical and Research Faculty
Email: dan.kastner@nih.gov

Education:
Rheumatology Fellowship; NIH
M.D., Ph.D.; Baylor College of Medicine

Interests:
- Genetic basis of diseases such as of Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), TNF-receptor Associated Periodic Syndrome (TRAPS), Neonatal Onset Multisystem Disorder (NOMID), and DIRA (Deficiency of IL-1 Receptor)
- Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) in SLE and RA

Robert Lembo, M.D.
Deputy Director, Office of Clinical Research Training and Medical Education, Clinical Center Designated Institutional Official and Pediatric attending for NIAMS 
Clinical Faculty
Email: robert.lembo@nih.gov

Education:
Pediatrics Residency and Fellowship; Yale New Heaven Hospital
M.D.; Cornell University Medical College

Gina Montealegre, M.D.
Staff Clinician, NIAMS
Email: montealegrega@mail.nih.gov

Education:
Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship; Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, Cleveland, OH
Pediatric Residency; Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
M.S. in Clinical Research; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
M.D.; Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia

Interests:
- Pediatric autoinflammatory diseases.
- Spondyloarthritis.
- Health disparities in pediatric rheumatology.

Leon Nesti, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief, Orthopaedics Research Group, NIAMS
Email: nestil@mail.nih.gov

Education:
Hand and Upper Extremity Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship; Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Orthopaedic Surgery Residency; Walter Reed Army Medical Center
M.D., Ph.D.; Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College

Interests:
- Cellular and molecular events leading to the development of post-traumatic heterotopic ossification.
-Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells and their role in tissue repair and regeneration.
-Three-dimensional, structural microenvironment and its role in tissue regeneration.

Amanda Ombrello, M.D.
Staff Clinician, NHGRI
Email: amanda.ombrello@nih.gov

Education:
Rheumatology Fellowship; Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship; Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency; Saint Louis University School of Medicine
M.D.; Saint Louis University School of Medicine

Interests:
- Autoinflammatory disease
- Novel therapeutics in autoinflammatory disease
- Pediatric Rheumatology

John O’Shea, M.D. (Lab website)
Scientific Director, NIAMS
Research Faculty
Email: john.oshea@nih.gov

Education:
Internal Medicine Internship and Residency; State University of New York Upstate Medical University
M.D.; University of Cincinnati

Interests:
- JAK/STAT Biology
- Regulation of T cell subset differentiation by Jak/STAT activating cytokines
- Genome-wide analysis of target sequences and chromatin modification by JAK/STAT cytokines

Paul Plotz, M.D.
Scientist Emeritus, NIAMS
Research Faculty
Email: plotzp@mail.nih.gov

Education:
Medicine Internship and Residency; Beth Israel Hospital at Boston
M.D.; Harvard Medical School

Interests:
- inflammatory muscle disease, Pompe Syndrome

Mahendra Rao, M.D., Ph.D. (Lab website)
Chief, Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, NIAMS
Director, NIH-CRM
Research Faculty
Email: mahendra.rao@nih.gov

Education:
M.D.; Bombay University, India
Ph.D.; California Institute of Technology

Interests:
- Induced pluripotent stem cells
- Regenerative medicine

Juan Rivera, M.Sc., Ph.D. (Lab website)
Chief, Laboratory of Molecular Immunogenetics, NIAMS
Deputy Scientific Director, NIAMS
Research Faculty
Email: juan.rivera@nih.gov

Education:
Post-doctoral training; NIH.
Ph.D.; Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Interests:
- Early signaling events in Fc epsilon receptor
- Role of Sphingosine Kinase and S1P in allergic resonse
- Role of basophils in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Vittorio Sartorelli, M.D. (Lab website)
Chief, Laboratory of Muscle Stem Cells and Gene Regulation, NIAMS
Research Faculty
Email: vittorio.sartorelli@nih.gov

Education:
Oncology Residency; University of Milan, Italy
M.D.; University of Brescia, Italy

Interests:
- Transcriptional Regulation of Skeletal Muscle
- Metabolic Role of Skeletal Muscle Cells
- Regeneration of Adult Skeletal Muscle including role of muscle stem cells

Cailin Sibley, M.D., M.H.S.
Staff Clinician, NIAMS
Clinical and Research Faculty
Email: cailin.sibley@nih.gov

Education:
Rheumatology Fellowship; University of California at San Francisco
Internal Medicine Residency; University of California at San Francisco
M.D.; University of California at Los Angeles

Interests:
- Underlying pathophysiology of Behcet’s Disease
- IL-1 Blockade as therapeutic agent
- Outcomes of NOMID disease

Richard Siegel, M.D., Ph.D. (Lab website)
Clinical Director, NIAMS
Clinical and Research Faculty
Email: richard.siegel@nih.gov

Education:
Post-doctoral Training; Laboratory of Immunology, NIAID, NIH
Rheumatology Fellowship; Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Internal Medicine Residency; Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
M.D., Ph.D. (Immunology); University of Pennsylvania

Interests:
- TNF-family cytokines in normal and pathological immunity
- TRAPS and autoinflammatory diseases
- Immune deficiency and autoimmunity

Michael Ward, M.D.
Chief, Clinical Trials and Outcome Branch, NIAMS
Clinical Faculty
Email: michael.ward@nih.gov

Education:
Internal Medicine Residency; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Rheumatology Fellowship; Duke University
Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar; Stanford University
M.D.; University of Illinois, Chicago

Interests:
- Patient outcomes, health services research and health disparities