Walter Maksymowych MBChB, FRCP(C), FACP

Walter P. Maksymowych, MB ChB, FRCP(C), FACP, is a Professor, Clinician, and Medical Scientist in the Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. He is a Canadian Royal College and American Board of Internal Medicine certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. He is the 2012 recipient of the Distinguished Investigator Award from the Canadian Rheumatology Association. He founded CARE Arthritis Limited, a Canadian company focused on the development of personalized medicine strategies for patients with arthritis, and now serves as Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. Maksymowych graduated from the University of Manchester School of Medicine, United Kingdom, in 1981 and completed his postgraduate training at the University of Alberta, Canada, and Cincinnati, USA. His primary research interests are the imaging and treatment of spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. He has authored over 500 journal articles, book chapters, and many hundreds of abstracts. He is a reviewer for multiple journals including New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Arthritis & Rheumatology, Arthritis Care & Research, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, The Journal of Rheumatology and Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. Dr Maksymowych is an accomplished international speaker at academic congresses, an educator for rheumatologists, and is considered an international opinion leader on spondyloarthritis.

Among his most notable innovations are the development of the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) MRI scoring systems for inflammation and structural damage in the sacroiliac joints and spine that are now industry standard in clinical trials. Most recently, he co-invented the 14-3-3eta biomarker, which is now licensed for diagnostic testing of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Dr Maksymowych is a member of the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society and the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network and has served on their Executive Boards. Most recently, Dr. Maksymowych has been the international principal investigator of the global Classification in Axial Spondyloarthritis Inception Cohort (CLASSIC) study.