Rodanthi C. Kitridou, MD, FACP, MACR
Professor Emerita of Medicine (Rheumatology)
U. of S. California Keck School of Medicine
Los Angeles, CA
Why do I donate to the Rheumatology Research Foundation and why is it included in my will? I have a long-term perspective on our profession, including the funding for research and education. My first encounter with the American Rheumatism Association, the predecessor of the American College of Rheumatology, was in 1967 when I timidly presented work mentored by my great first teacher, Daniel J. McCarty, MD. I became a member of ARA (subsequently ACR) in 1968 and have only missed four annual meetings.
For decades, rheumatology was the last in the faculty priority list of department chairmen. Medical students were undertaught, and rheumatic disease patients were underserved. Funding for rheumatology research and education was scant and unreliable. Federal funding was and is primarily funneled to cancer and heart disease research. Rheumatology was lucky if an influential politician’s daughter had lupus, or a wife had RA.
So, ACR Research and Education Foundation, later renamed Rheumatology Research Foundation was born to provide funding for budding researchers and innovative educators. The Foundation has been an excellent steward of the contributions it receives. It is only natural for rheumatologists to support our own causes, we need to learn more about the etiologies, mechanisms and treatment of rheumatic diseases, and we need to augment the number and quality of rheumatologists who treat the numerous patients with rheumatic diseases.
And one more, very personal thing: women have been traditionally denied entrance to medical school, subjected to quotas, excluded from prestigious professional groups, denied faculty promotions, underpaid and denied grants. I would like to favor women, by designating the gift in my will for women rheumatologists who investigate lupus, RA, vasculitis, or scleroderma.
So, why do I give to the Rheumatology Research Foundation? Simply, I put my hard-earned money where my mouth is.
