Dr. Désirée van der Heijde is a Professor of Rheumatology at the Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands and is also affiliated with the Diakonhjemmet Hospital in Oslo, Norway. She currently chairs the Assessment in SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS). She obtained her medical degree at the Catholic University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Her major research interest is outcomes assessment, especially methodological aspects and application in clinical studies. She has published over 280 papers in international literature, as well as chapters in leading rheumatology textbooks.

Dr. Vikas Majithia is the Division Chair of Rheumatology at Mayo Clinic in Florida. He completed medical school at Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science in India, residency at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan, and a fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He is board-certified in rheumatology and internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He previously served at UMMC as Division Director of Rheumatology. He is the principal investigator on a number of clinical trials, longitudinal studies and has published more than 40 peer-reviewed manuscripts and multiple book chapters. He has won many honors and serves on a number of intra-mural and extramural committees.

Dr. Philip Mease is the Director of the Rheumatology Research Division at Swedish Medical Center/ Providence St. Joseph Health and is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. He received his medical degree from Stanford University in California before completing a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Washington. His major research interests include psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis. His work includes research on disease state, development of outcome measures, and determining the efficacy and safety of emerging therapies for these conditions. He has authored more than 450 journal articles, numerous abstracts, and book chapters.