New Members of the EMEUNET Sub-Committees 2026-2027

Dr Alexandros Mitropoulos is a Research Fellow in Clinical Exercise Physiology at Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom). His research focuses on lifestyle interventions, exercise physiology and clinical trials in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases, particularly systemic sclerosis.

He leads the European IMPACT-SARD consortium, bringing together researchers from 10 countries to advance collaborative research in this field. Alexandros has received research funding from FOREUM and was awarded the prestigious British Society for Rheumatology Garrod Award in 2024 for outstanding contributions to rheumatology research by an early-career non-clinical scientist.

He is an Associate Editor for RAP journal, a member of the EULAR HPR Scientific Sub-Committee, and serves on the EMEUNET Education Sub-Committee.

Berçemhan Sulu is an internal medicine specialist and a rheumatology fellow at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine.

Her main clinical and research interests include Behçet’s syndrome and systemic vasculitides.

She is actively involved as an OMERACT Fellow in the Behçet’s Syndrome Working Group and contributes to the Early Systemic Sclerosis Longitudinal Assessment National Registry.

She is a member of the EMEUNET Social Media Sub-Committee.

Burak is an internal medicine specialist and rheumatology fellow at Gazi University Faculty of Medicine in Ankara, Türkiye. His clinical and research interests focus on autoinflammatory diseases, particularly familial Mediterranean fever, AA amyloidosis, undifferentiated systemic autoinflammatory diseases, and hematoinflammatory conditions.

Burak is actively involved in the Young Rheumatologists Working Group of the Turkish Society for Rheumatology and also a member of the EMEUNET Newsletter Sub-Committee.

Dafne is a rheumatologist from Argentina currently living and working in Israel. She is completing her PhD at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, while also working as an attending rheumatologist at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. Her research focuses on outcome measurement and clinical epidemiology in spondyloarthritis, with a particular interest in developing and validating outcome instruments for clinical research. She is especially interested in improving how disease activity, physical function, mobility and other health outcomes are measured and interpreted to support both research and clinical decision-making.

She is a full member of ASAS, an active member of Y-ASAS, and serves as the EMEUNET Country Liaison for Israel. Dafne is also a member of the EMEUNET Newsletter Sub-Committee.

Danae is a resident and clinician-scientist at the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at University Hospital Erlangen, Germany, where she works in the Clinical Trial Unit. Her scientific work focuses on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Sjögren’s disease.

She works at the interface of clinical medicine and basic research, with a particular interest in the mechanisms underlying therapeutic response, remission and disease relapse. Her research centers on novel B-cell-depleting therapies and the translational analysis of B-cell phenotypes and immune reconstitution following treatment. She is also a member of the Young Rheumatology Working Group of the German Society for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology.

Within EMEUNET, Danae is a member of the Peer Mentoring Sub-Committee.

Dr. David Kickinger is a rheumatologist and PhD fellow from Austria, working at the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology at the Medical University of Graz. His clinical and scientific focus lies in translational research in systemic sclerosis, with a particular interest in disease mechanisms, novel therapeutic approaches, and improving patient outcomes. He is actively involved in promoting collaboration, education, and networking among young rheumatologists

David is the Country Liaison for Austria within EMEUNET, Head of the Young Austrian Rheumatology Society, and a member of the EMEUNET Peer Mentoring Sub-Committee.

Fatma Gül is a pediatric rheumatologist and Associate Professor at the University of Health Sciences, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul, Türkiye. Her clinical and research interests focus mainly on autoinflammatory diseases, familial Mediterranean fever, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and other pediatric rheumatic diseases.

Her research particularly focuses on clinical and translational aspects of autoinflammatory diseases, genotype–phenotype associations, treatment outcomes, and real-world data in pediatric rheumatology.

Fatma Gül is actively involved in international rheumatology networks. She serves as the Clinical Lead of the EMERGE Research/Working Party Subcommittee in PReS and represents EMERGE within the PReS Autoinflammatory Diseases Working Party. She is also a member of the EMEUNET Social Media Sub-Committee.

Gamze Arın Bal is a physiotherapist and researcher at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Türkiye. She holds a PhD in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation.

Her clinical and research interests focus on rehabilitation in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, arthritis, hand rehabilitation, pain, and physical and mental well-being. She is also interested in physiotherapy education, social prescribing, and arts-based approaches in health and rehabilitation. Gamze is actively involved in the Turkish Health Professionals in Rheumatology Association.

She is a member of the EMEUNET Visibility & Global Affairs Sub-Committee.

Grégoire is a specialist in internal medicine and clinical immunology and assistant professor at Cochin Hospital and Université Paris Cité in Paris, France. He is currently completing his PhD at Karolinska Institute, Sweden, working on autoimmune diseases, pregnancy, and anti-Ro/SSA mediated congenital heart block, using translational approaches and epidemiology.

He is a  member of the EULAR study group on Reproductive Healthcare and Family Planning (ReHFaP) and is a junior author for the EULAR online course on rheumatic diseases. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Revue de Médecine Interne. He is a member of the EMEUNET Education Sub-Committee.

Simona is a Rheumatology resident at the Rheumatology Department of Dr. Ion Cantacuzino Clinical Hospital and a PhD fellow at Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest.

Her clinical and research interests focus on inflammatory rheumatic diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis. Her research primarily explores neuropathic-like and nociplastic pain in inflammatory arthritis, including their prevalence, longitudinal evolution and clinical predictors. As part of a EULAR Long-Term Scientific Training Grant at KU Leuven, she contributed to the NEUPIA study, a longitudinal research project investigating different pain phenotypes in patients with inflammatory arthritis.

She is an active member of the Romanian Society of Rheumatology a member of the EMEUNET Newsletter Sub-Committee.

Dr Joanna Kedra is a rheumatologist working at Sorbonne University and the Department of Rheumatology at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, France. She is currently completing a PhD in epidemiology, focusing on the benefit-risk balance of targeted therapies for rheumatoid arthritis in real-world settings. Her research is based on large databases, including rheumatologic cohorts (such as the ESPOIR cohort) and national healthcare databases (SNDS). She has contributed to the development and update of recommendations for both the French Society of Rheumatology (SFR) and EULAR. Joanna is also an active member of the CRI-Imidiate research network and the EULAR Working Group on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence in Rheumatic Diseases. 

Joanna is a member of the EMEUNET Newsletter Sub-Committee.

Leher is a rheumatology trainee and PhD fellow at the Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, University of Manchester.

Her clinical and research interests are in cardiometabolic health, health equity and health innovation. Her PhD focuses on biomarkers and multi-omics to characterise cardiovascular involvement in rheumatic diseases, alongside evaluating emerging therapeutic options to better manage cardiovascular risk.

She also serves as Associate Editor for the Royal College of Physicians journal, Clinical Medicine. Leher is a member of the EMEUNET Country Liaisons Sub-Committee. 

Maria is a rheumatologist and PhD fellow from Italy, working at the Division of Rheumatology at the
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”.

She is actively involved in international collaborative research and multicentre registries in systemic sclerosis and has undertaken research fellowships at the University Hospital of Zurich. She is currently completing her PhD focusing on interstitial lung disease associated to connective tissue diseases (CTD-ILD), with the aim of better characterizing radiological and molecular factors associated with ILD progression.

Maria is an active member of the young division working group of the EUropean Scleroderma Trials And Research group (Y-EUSTAR), contributes to ERN ReCONNET SSc working group, and a member of the EMEUNET Visibility & Global Affairs Sub-Committee.

Marie is a rheumatology and research fellow in Paris, France. Her clinical and research interests include osteoarthritis, computational immunology, and machine learning. She completed a PhD in systems biology and bioinformatics between UCSF and Sorbonne University, where she developed integrative multi-omics approaches to better understand the role of the Treg/Teff balance in rheumatic diseases and osteoarthritis. She has previously been involved in the French national young rheumatologists’ network,  and the OARSI planning committee.

Within EMEUNET, Marie is a member of the EMEUNET Newsletter Sub-Committee.

Matilde is a Rheumatologist at ULS Viseu Dão Lafões, and a clinical researcher at GIMM, Portugal. Her clinical and research interests focus on idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, Sjögren’s disease and  musculoskeletal ultrasound. She is actively involved in international collaborative research, multicentre registries, and clinical trials in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases and has undertaken clinical and research fellowships in the UK, France, Sweden, and Italy.

She serves on the Associate Board of the International Myositis Society (iMyos), is a core team member of the Myositis Clinical Trial Consortium (MCTC), contributes to EULAR and ERN ReCONNET working groups, and is a member of the EMEUNET Country Liaison Subcommittee.

Mihai is a rheumatology resident at the Emergency Clinical County Hospital of Craiova, Romania. His clinical and research interests focus on systemic autoimmune diseases, health economics, outcomes research, and the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare. He has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications assessing quality of life, disease burden, and healthcare-related outcomes in patients with rheumatic diseases.

Beyond his clinical work, Mihai has a strong background in academic governance and medical education. He served as a student representative in the Senate of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova and as a medical education trainer within the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). He is an active member of the Romanian Society of Rheumatology and currently serves on the EMEUNET Newsletter Sub-Committee.

Petra is a rheumatologist at the University Hospital of Split and holds a PhD in Evidence-Based Clinical Medicine. She works at the Division of Rheumatology, Allergology and Clinical Immunology, which is part of the Croatian EUSTAR Center of Excellence for Systemic Sclerosis. Her main clinical and research interest include systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory arthritis, and evidence-based medicine.

Petra is an active member of the Croatian Society for Rheumatology and the Croatian Association of Young Rheumatologists. Since 2025, she has served as the EMEUNET Country Liaison for Croatia and is a member of the EMEUNET Social Media Sub-Committee.

Richard is a Consultant Rheumatologist at the Rheumatology Unit of Città della Salute e della Scienza, Molinette Hospital, Turin, Italy, and a specialist in Allergy and Clinical Immunology. He is responsible for the Lupus Clinic, where he combines clinical practice with research focusing mainly on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). His research focuses on the relationship between autoantibody profiles and clinical manifestations in SLE. In addition to his work in this field, he is involved in clinical research on inflammatory arthritis and vasculitis, with a particular interest in eosinophilic diseases.

Richard is a member of the Rare Diseases Commission of the Medical Council of Turin, Associate Editor for Frontiers of Immunology and a member of the EMEUNET Social Media Sub-Committee

Rosanna Campitiello is a rheumatologist and PhD candidate from Italy, working at the Laboratory of Experimental Rheumatology and the Academic Division of Clinical Rheumatology, University of Genoa (Italy).

Her research spans clinical and translational research in systemic sclerosis and connective tissue diseases, with particular expertise in nailfold videocapillaroscopy and innate immunology.

She has pursued experiences abroad, including a research period at the ERN ReCONNECT exchange programme in Ghent, Belgium. She is an active member of the Italian Society of Rheumatology’s Study Group on Capillaroscopy and Microcirculation (CAPSIR), and participates as Sub-Investigator in international multicentre clinical trials on systemic lupus erythematosus.

She is a member of the EMEUNET Education Sub-Committee.

Stoimen Dimitrov is a rheumatology resident at UMHAT “St. Marina” in Varna, Bulgaria. His clinical and research interests focus on the integration of artificial intelligence in rheumatology, autoinflammatory syndromes and rare systemic diseases. He serves as Publishing Coordinator and Social Media Integrity Editor for Rheumatology (Bulgaria) and actively peer-reviews for international journals, including Rheumatology International, BMC Rheumatology and Frontiers in Immunology.

His academic achievements have been recognized with several honors, including the National Rare Diseases Research Award and the Bulgarian Medical Union Distinction. Additionally, he is a member of EULAR, ACR, and SLEuro. Stoimen is а member of the EMEUNET Education Sub-Committee.

Susana is a Rheumatologist at the Rheumatology Clinic of CHU Brugmann, Brussels, Belgium. She graduated from the University of Minho, Portugal, and completed her Rheumatology Residency at ULS Região de Aveiro, Portugal. She undertook a clinical fellowship at the Connective Tissue Diseases Unit in Pavia, Italy, under the supervision of Prof. Lorenzo Cavagna, focusing on idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. Her clinical and research interests include spondyloarthritis, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, osteoporosis and musculoskeletal ultrasound.

Susana is a member of the Myositis Clinical Trial Consortium (MCTC), the European Lupus Society (SLEuro) and the EULAR Study Group on Geriatric Rheumatology. Within EMEUNET, she is a member of the Social Media Sub-Committee.

Tamara is a Consultant Rheumatologist at the Clinical Medicine and Rheumatology Unit, Cattinara University Hospital, Trieste, Italy. She also holds a Master’s degree in Epidemiological and Biostatistical Methods for Clinical Research.

Her research focuses on connective tissue diseases, particularly SLE, APS and reproductive health in rheumatology. She has gained international research experience as a visiting researcher at the Department of Rheumatology, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and continues to collaborate with the group on clinical and epidemiological research.

She serves as Secretary of the EULAR Study Group on Reproductive Health and Family Planning (ReHFaP) and of The Lancet Rheumatology Commission on Reproductive Health and Family Planning in Immune-Mediated Long-Term Conditions. She is a member of the EMEUNET Peer Mentoring Sub-Committee.

Tugba Izci Duran is a rheumatologist and Associate Professor from Türkiye. Her clinical and research interests focus on spondyloarthritis, particularly axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis, as well as musculoskeletal imaging, real-world evidence, patient-reported outcomes, and international collaborative research.

She was a Clinical Research Fellow at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, where she was involved in collaborative research in inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

She is a member of the Young-GRAPPA Newsletter Subcommittee, where she contributes to educational and communication initiatives in psoriatic disease. She currently serves as the EMEUNET Country Liaison for Türkiye and is a member of the EMEUNET Country Liaison Sub-Committee.

Vanessa  is a rheumatology resident at Klinikum Nürnberg in Germany. Her clinical and research interests include comorbidity management in inflammatory rheumatic diseases, patient-centred communication, and innovative approaches to patient education, particularly digital tools and graphic medicine.

She is actively involved in the Young Rheumatology Working Group of the German Society for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology (DGRh) and serves as a deputy member of the DGRh Working Group on Comorbidities. Her research aims to improve the implementation of comorbidity screening and make health information more accessible to people living with rheumatic diseases.

Within EMEUNET, Vanessa is a member of the Visibility and Global Affairs Subcommittee.