Ricard Cervera
Ricard Cervera, MD, PhD, FRCP is Senior Consultant and Head at the Department of Autoimmune Diseases, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Director of the Research Group on Systemic Autoimmune Diseases at the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) of Barcelona, and Professor at the Department of Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Dr. Cervera qualified in Medicine in 1983 from the Universitat de Barcelona and in 1988 obtained his PhD degree for his thesis on anticardiolipin antibodies. His post-doctoral experience included two years at the Lupus Research Unit, The Rayne Institute, St. Thomas' Hospital, London, England. In 1995, together with Drs. Miguel Ingelmo and Josep Font created the Department of Autoimmune Diseases of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, a pioneering centre in Europe devoted to develop high quality clinical, academic and research work on these conditions.
Dr. Cervera is Member of the Catalan, Spanish and International Societies of Internal Medicine and the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) of London, and Honorary Member of the Argentinian, Mexican, Peruvian, Equatorian, Colombian and Slovak Societies of Rheumatology. He is coordinator of the European Forum on Antiphospholipid Antibodies and of the European Working Party on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Dr. Cervera is also the chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the Catalan Association of Lupus Patients and Medical Advisor to Lupus Europe. He has organized many international workshops, symposia and courses on autoimmune diseases, and has been the chairman of the 6th International Congress on Autoimmunity, the 1st and 2nd Latin-American Congresses on Autoimmunity and the 5th Meeting of the European Forum on Antiphospholipid Antibodies. Among other awards, he has received the Prizes of the "5th European Conference on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus", EULAR 2003 and EULAR 2005.
Dr. Cervera has presented over 300 invited lectures and has published more than 500 scientific papers, including original articles at The Lancet, Arthritis and Rheumatism, American Journal of Medicine and Medicine (Baltimore). His academic activities include invited Professorships in several European and Latin-American Universities. He is co-editor of 20 books, including "The antiphospholipid syndrome","Vascular Manifestations of Systemic Autoimmune Diseases" and “Diagnostic Criteria in Autoimmune Diseases”, among others. He is also member of the Editorial Board of 20 medical journals. His current major research interest includes clinical and epidemiological aspects of systemic autoimmune diseases, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus and the antiphospholipid syndrome, with special focus on its “catastrophic” variant.
Dr. Cervera is married with Carme and has two daughters, Marta and Laura. He is also enthusiastically involved in social and cultural activities and is currently the Chairman of the Association of Friends of the Museum of Gavà (Barcelona) and Secretary General of the Catalan Federation of Friends of Museums.
