FERNANDO S CAVALCANTI, MD

Born on June 1951 in Recife, Brazil. Medical degree in 1975 graduated at the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil. The British Council scholarship from 1979 to 1980 in rheumatology and immunology at St. Thomas´ Hospital and The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, England. Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, England 1986. The Rockefeller Foundation scholarship in clinical epidemiology at the University of Toronto, Canada in 1989.  Attended a Master Course in internal medicine at the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil in 2001. Member of the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Rheumatology 1989-1999. Vice-President of PANLAR 1994-1998. Member of the Editorial Board of the Brazilian Journal of Rheumatology 1999-2002. Member of the Editorial Board of Rheumatology 2000-2008. Member of the Editorial Board of Clinical Rheumatology from 2004 up to the present date. President of the Brazilian Society of Rheumatology 2004-2006. Member of the Brazilian Society of Rheumatology and The British Society for Rheumatology.  Major clinical interest: connective tissue diseases and patient participation on the decision making. Current work: coordinating a large Connective Tissue Disease Clinic at the Hospital das Clincas - UFPE, where several prospective studies are being executed including this cohort. Academic interest: co-morbidity outcomes in rheumatic diseases especially SLE, RA and seronegative arthropathies. Authored and/or co-authored numerous research papers and book chapters on basic and clinical rheumatology disease topics especially on co-morbidity, patient´s level of education, obesity, parasites and arthritis, impact on patient life, etc.