Prof. G.D. Kitas

George Kitas MD, PhD, FRCP qualified suma qum laude from the Medical School of Athens in Greece in 1985. He pursued postgraduate doctoral studies in Birmingham, trained in medicine and rheumatology in several units in the UK and was appointed Consultant Rheumatologist at the Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Teaching) in 1995, where he is Head of Rheumatology, Clinical Director of Ambulatory Medicine, Director of Research and Development and Deputy Associate Medical Director. He is Honorary Professor of Clinical Rheumatology at the Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Unit - University of Manchester, Professor of Behavioural Rheumatology at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences - University of Birmingham, and Professor of Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Health at the Research Institute in Healthcare Sciences - University of Wolverhampton. He is editorial board member of 5 international journals, acts as expert reviewer for more than 30 international journals and research funding bodies, and is an expert evaluator in the quality assessment agencies for higher education and research of several governments. He leads the “Rheumatoid Arthritis Co-morbidity Research Group” and has over 200 peer-reviewed original publications and book chapters, and 200 published conference abstracts. He has several million pounds in current research grants from multiple sources, including the Medical Research Council, Arthritis Research UK, British Heart Foundation and the pharmaceutical industry. He is Chief Investigator of TRACE RA, thus far the largest multicentre prospective randomised controlled trial in Rheumatoid Arthritis in the world. Professor Kitas is founding member of the West Midlands Rheumatology Forum, the first multidisciplinary rheumatology congress in the UK, and of the Birmingham Arthritis Resource Centre, the only community-based resource centre for patient information and education on rheumatic diseases in Europe. He has been Chairman of the West Midlands Rheumatology Services and Training Committee, Regional Specialty Advisor of the Royal College of Physicians, member of the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) Council, member and vice-chairman of the BSR Heberden Committee, and Associate International Director for European affairs of the Royal College of Physicians of London. He is convenor of the BSR Cardiovascular co-morbidity Special Interest Group and member of the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) task force on cardiovascular risk management in rheumatic diseases.