Ewa Olech MD

Ewa Olech, M.D., has joined the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Las Vegas as associate professor of internal medicine and chief of rheumatology. Olech has extensive experience in rheumatology and is primarily interested in rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that affects one percent of the population and usually leads to long-term disability.

She is currently working at the School of Medicine's Las Vegas campus to start a large rheumatoid arthritis clinical trial program, where patients will have an opportunity to try new therapies earlier while they are still in studies. Over the past decade, several very effective biologic agents have been approved for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, yet new drugs are still being developed and studied in clinical trials like the ones being planned for the School of Medicine. While the biologic drugs that are being used on a day-by-day basis are very effective and have totally transformed the care of rheumatoid arthritis patients, the studies are showing that at least 30 percent of patients either don't respond, stop responding, or can't tolerate these drugs, said Olech, citing a recent survey of 700 arthritis