Division of Rheumatology & Connective Tissue Research

Our clinical services are mostly based in the outpatient setting. Faculty members are actively involved in seeing outpatients as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Group in New Brunswick, NJ. The Rheumatology faculty, fellows, and staff are dedicated to providing the highest quality medical care with respect and compassion for our patients as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

In addition to outpatient rheumatology services, the Division of Rheumatology and Connective Tissue Research provides high-quality care for hospitalized patients with known or suspected rheumatologic conditions. The rheumatology consultation service includes an attending physician, rheumatology fellow, medical residents, and medical students, and provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment recommendations for patients at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Division faculty members have extensive teaching responsibilities, both in the Department of Medicine and at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. These include undergraduate medical education, training of residents, and a Rheumatology Fellowship training program.

Faculty members are involved at all levels of the educational process, from lectures at the Medical School to having medical students participate in a Rheumatology elective. Internal Medicine residents (from our program and others in the region), Family Medicine residents, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residents participate in a Rheumatology elective as well.

Our educational component for fellows includes a weekly conference that involves didactic lectures, patient case presentations, Journal Club, and radiology conferences. In addition, there are weekly department Grand Rounds.

All of these activities have direct faculty supervision and, thus, intimate contact between fellows in training and academic faculty. Also, there are New Jersey Rheumatology Association (NJRA) meetings and several other New Jersey Rheumatology monthly didactic lectures attended by our faculty and trainees.

The Division has one fellow in each of the two years of training. Clinical training spans two years, during which time fellows participate in diagnosing and managing patients with a wide variety of rheumatic diseases and other diseases with rheumatologic manifestations. As part of their training, the fellows rotate in Pediatric Rheumatology, Musculoskeletal Radiology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Orthopedics, and musculoskeletal ultrasound.

Fellows become part of a team of residents and students headed by full-time faculty who supervise the practical aspects of patient care and provide didactic teaching in the scientific disciplines that underlie the clinical practice of rheumatology.

The Scleroderma Program, led by Dr. Vivien Hsu, is unique in our region and one of the largest nationwide. It is a comprehensive service, which includes diagnostic evaluation and clinical trials.

Published Manuscripts

• Spiera R, Hummers L, Chung L, Frech TM, Domsic R, Hsu V, et al. Safety and efficacy of lenabasum in a phase 2 randomized, placebo-controlled trial in adults with systemic sclerosis [published online ahead of print, 2020 Apr 26]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020;10
• Gourh P, Safran SA, Alexander T, Boyden SE, Morgan ND, Shah AA, Mayes MD, Doumatey A, Bentley AR, Shriner D, Domsic RT, Medsger TA Jr, Ramos PS, Silver RM, Steen VD, Varga J, Hsu V, , et al. Safety and effectiveness of abatacept in systemic sclerosis: The EUSTAR experience [published online ahead of print, 2020 Feb 3]. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2020;S0049-0172(20)30014-7.
• Khanna D, Spino C, Johnson S, Chung L, Whitfield ML, Denton CP, Berrocal V, Franks J, Mehta B, Molitor J, Steen VD, Lafyatis R, Simms RW, Gill A, Kafaja S, Frech TM, Hsu V, , et al. Abatacept in Early Diffuse Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis: Results of a Phase II Investigator-Initiated, Multicenter, Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020;72(1):125‐136.
• Elhai M, Boubaya M, Distler O, Smith V, Matucci-Cerinic M, Alegre Sancho JJ, Truchetet ME, Braun-Moscovici Y, Iannone F, Novikov PI, Lescoat A, Siegert E, Castellví I, Airó P, Vettori S, De Langhe E, Hachulla E, Erler A, Ananieva L, Krusche M, López-Longo FJ, Distler JHW, Hunzelmann N, Hoffmann-Vold AM, Riccieri V, Hsu VM, et al. Outcomes of patients with systemic sclerosis treated with rituximab in contemporary practice: a prospective cohort study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2019;78(7):979‐987.
• Parmar MK, Alikhan M, Hsu VM, Borham A. Echocardiogram: The GPS to GPA’s Heart (Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis). Case Rep Rheumatol. 2019;2019:7609386.
• Volkmann ER, Tashkin DP, Sim M, Li N, Goldmuntz E, Keyes-Elstein L, Pinckney A, Furst DE, Clements PJ, Khanna D, Steen V, Schraufnagel DE, Arami S, Hsu V , et al. Short-term progression of interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis predicts long-term survival in two independent clinical trial cohorts. Ann Rheum Dis. 2019;78(1):122‐130.
• Hsu VM, Chung L, Hummers LK, et al. Risk Factors for Mortality and Cardiopulmonary Hospitalization in Systemic Sclerosis Patients At Risk for Pulmonary Hypertension, in the PHAROS Registry. J Rheumatol. 2019;46(2):176‐183.
• Gourh P, Remmers EF, Boyden SE, Alexander T, Morgan ND, Shah AA, Mayes MD, Doumatey A, Bentley AR, Shriner D, Domsic RT, Medsger TA Jr, Steen VD, Ramos PS, Silver RM, Korman B, Varga J, Schiopu E, Khanna D, Hsu V,, et al. Brief Report: Whole-Exome Sequencing to Identify Rare Variants and Gene Networks That Increase Susceptibility to Scleroderma in African Americans. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018;70(10):1654‐1660.
• Hsu V, Varga J, Schlesinger N. Calcinosis in scleroderma made crystal clear. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2019;31(6):589‐594.
• Edwards NL, Schlesinger N, Clark S, Arndt T, Lipsky PE. Management of Gout in the United States: A Claims-based Analysis. ACR Open Rheumatol. 2020;2(3):180‐187.
• Schlesinger N, Brunetti L. Treatment of Acute Gout Flares in the Emergency Department [published online ahead of print, 2020 Feb 14]. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020;10.1002/acr.24166.
• Schlesinger N, Brunetti L. Beyond urate lowering: Analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of allopurinol [published online ahead of print, 2019 Nov 15]. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2019;S0049-0172(19)30690-0.
• Bursill D, Taylor WJ, Terkeltaub R, Abhishek A, So AK, Vargas-Santos AB, Gaffo AL, Rosenthal A, Tausche AK, Reginato A, Manger B, Sciré C, Pineda C, van Durme C, Lin CT, Yin C, Albert DA, Biernat-Kaluza E, Roddy E, Pascual E, Becce F, Perez-Ruiz F, Sivera F, Lioté F, Schett G, Nuki G, Filippou G, McCarthy G, da Rocha Castelar Pinheiro G, Ea HK, Tupinambá HA, Yamanaka H, Choi HK, Mackay J, ODell JR, Vázquez Mellado J, Singh JA, Fitzgerald JD, Jacobsson LTH, Joosten L, Harrold LR, Stamp L, Andrés M, Gutierrez M, Kuwabara M, Dehlin M, Janssen M, Doherty M, Hershfield MS, Pillinger M, Edwards NL, Schlesinger N, et al. Gout, Hyperuricaemia and Crystal-Associated Disease Network (G-CAN) consensus statement regarding labels and definitions of disease states of gout. Ann Rheum Dis. 2019;78(11):1592‐1600.
• Schlesinger N. Relationship of Interleukin-1β Blockade With Incident Gout and Serum Uric Acid Levels. Ann Intern Med. 2019;170(10):737‐738.
• Scherholz ML, Schlesinger N, Androulakis IP. Chronopharmacology of glucocorticoids. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2019;151-152:245‐261.
• Bursill D, Taylor WJ, Terkeltaub R, Kuwabara M, Merriman TR, Grainger R, Pineda C, Louthrenoo W, Edwards NL, Andrés M, Vargas-Santos AB, Roddy E, Pascart T, Lin CT, Perez-Ruiz F, Tedeschi SK, Kim SC, Harrold LR, McCarthy G, Kumar N, Chapman PT, Tausche AK, Vazquez-Mellado J, Gutierrez M, da Rocha Castelar-Pinheiro G, Richette P, Pascual E, Fisher MC, Burgos-Vargas R, Robinson PC, Singh JA, Jansen TL, Saag KG, Slot O, Uhlig T, Solomon DH, Keenan RT, Scire CA, Biernat-Kaluza E, Dehlin M, Nuki G, Schlesinger N, et al. Gout, Hyperuricemia, and Crystal-Associated Disease Network Consensus Statement Regarding Labels and Definitions for Disease Elements in Gout. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2019;71(3):427‐434.
• Stach CM, Sloan VS, Woodworth TG, Kilgallen B, Furst DE. Rheumatology Common Toxicity Criteria (RCTC): An Update Reflecting Real-World Use. Drug Saf. 2019;42(12):1499‐1506.
• Sloan VS, Jones A, Maduka C, Bentz JWG. A Benefit Risk Review of Pediatric Use of Hydrocodone/Chlorpheniramine, a Prescription Opioid Antitussive Agent for the Treatment of Cough. Drugs Real World Outcomes. 2019;6(2):47‐57.
• lokker L, Berthelsen DB, Woodworth T, Andersen KM, Furst DE, Devoe D, Williamson PR, Suarez-Almazor ME, Strand V, Leong AL, Goel N, Boers M, Brooks PM, March L, Sloan VS, et al. Identifying Possible Outcome Domains from Existing Outcome Measures to Inform an OMERACT Core Domain Set for Safety in Rheumatology Trials. J Rheumatol. 2019;46(9):1173‐1178.
• Sloan VS, Sheahan A, Stark JL, Suruki RY. Opioid Use in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis Is Common in the United States: Outcomes of a Retrospective Cohort Study. J Rheumatol. 2019;46(11):1450‐1457.
• Chanphai P, Thomas TJ, Tajmir-Riahi HA. Application and biomolecular study of functionalized folic acid-dendrimer nanoparticles in drug delivery [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jan 27]. J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2020;1‐8.
• Thomas TJ, Tajmir-Riahi HA, Pillai CKS. Biodegradable Polymers for Gene Delivery. Molecules. 2019;24(20):3744.
• Chanphai P, Thomas TJ, Tajmir-Riahi HA. Design of functionalized folic acid-chitosan nanoparticles for delivery of tetracycline, doxorubicin, and tamoxifen. J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2019;37(4):1000‐1006.
• Schanberg LE, Ramanan AV, De Benedetti F, Beukelman T, Eakin GS, Del Gaizo V, Ringold S, Vesely R, Schrandt S, Jaki T, Bili A, Chung JB, De Bono S, Douglass W, Enejosa JV, Kanik KS, Knobe K, Kunder R, Leite-Schnell JC, Suehiro RM, Wong RL, , et al. Toward Accelerated Authorization and Access to New Medicines for Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2019;71(12):1976‐1984.