The CSSA is pleased and grateful to announce that the following doctors have accepted an invitation to serve on the CSSA Medical Advisory Board:

Dr. Maria Cid, Dr. Carol Langford, Dr. Philip Seo,
Dr. Stuart Levine, Dr. Curry Koenig, and Dr. Paola Sandroni.
Thank you to our excellent panel of doctors!

Dr. Maria Cid, from Barcelona, Spain not only treats patients with many types of vasculitis, but also has a keen interest in research. She is currently a consultant at the Systemic Autoimmune Department of the University of Medicine and Dermatology, Hospital Clinic, in Barcelona as well as an Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona. She, like many of our consultants, mentors young doctors with an interest in vasculitis.

Dr. Curry Koenig led an effort to establish a Vascultis Center at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He recognized the need for comprehensive medical care for patients with vasculitis in the Western United States. Academic centers clustered mostly in the Midwest and Eastern United States and Canada have played pivotal roles in the care of patients with vasculitis. Due to high travel costs, many patients can not afford to be evaluated and cared for at these centers. The University of Utah Vasculitis Center was established in 2007 as a tertiary referral center for patients afflicted with different forms of vasculitis

Dr. Carol Langford has long been a friend and supporter of vasculitis patient advocacy groups. From 1994 to 2004, Dr. Langford was a senior investigator within the Immunologic Diseases Section of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In 2004, Dr. Langford joined the Cleveland Clinic to become Director of the Center for Vasculitis Care and Research within the Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and was named Vice-Chair of Rheumatology for Research in 2007. She has a special interest in Churg Strauss Syndrome and is actively engaged in vasculitis research.

Dr. Paola Sandroni, neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, was a keynote speaker at the 2008 Vasculitis Symposium. Her session on peripheral neuropathy entitled: “Peripheral Neuropathy - When the Nerves Go Haywire” was very relevant and extremely helpful to the many Churg Strauss patients in attendance.

Dr. Philip Seo and Dr. Stuart levine are Co-Directors of the Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center in Baltimore.

Dr. Philip Seo, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Rheumatology. His research interests are the assessment and treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitides, including Churg Strauss Syndrome, Wegener's Granulomatosis, and Microscopic Polyangiitis.

Dr. Stuart M. Levine joined the Rheumatology faculty in July 2003. His primary research interest is in the pathogenesis Wegener’s Granulomatosis and other systemic vasculitides. He is also interested in the role that disease-specific microenvironments play in the targeting and selection of autoantigens by the immune system in Wegener’s. One of the main objectives of these projects is the development of more robust and predictable biomarkers of Wegener’s disease activity and prognosis.