The Digestive Involvement in Systemic Autoimmune Diseases

Dr. Manuel Ramos-Casals (MD, PhD) is Specialist Physician in the Systemic Autoimmune Diseases Unit (Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain). Dr Ramos-Casals is a clinically trained internist and researcher, with a special interest in Sjögren’s syndrome, cryoglobulinemia and HCV-related autoimmunity. He has developed several clinical and basic research projects on primary SS and is trained in research methodology and experimental models of autoimmunity. He has published in the last 3 years various publications in the best journals in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine (see above). Dr. Ramos-Casals is Assistant Professor in Immunology Diseases, in the Department of Medicine of the University of Barcelona. Munther Khamashta is Professor/Consultant Physician and Director of The Graham Hughes Lupus Research Laboratory at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, and runs a large lupus pregnancy clinic. He studied medicine in Barcelona and internal medicine in Madrid, Spain, where he developed an interest in connective tissue diseases and received his PhD. He was awarded the MRCP in 1999 and FRCP in 2002. He joined the Lupus Unit in London 25 years ago and has been instrumental in developing it into an internationally recognised tertiary centre receiving referrals from all over the UK, see https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/munther-khamashta(e30b3284-8df1-4cc2-9856-9bca61db843e)/biography.html Fabiola Atzeni, MD, PhD is currently Full Professor and Head of the Rheumatology Unit, University of Messina, Messina, Italy. Her clinical and research interest lies in immunotherapies in autoimmune diseases with particular focus on the investigation and management of differential response to biological therapies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Spondyloarthritis (SpA), and cardiovascular aspects of the different rheumatic diseases with particular emphasis on arteriosclerosis. Dr. Atzeni has co-authored over 400 publications in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters, is a regular reviewer for several international journals. She is involved in several international and national meetings focused on cardiovascular and infection aspects.