EMEUNET Committee 2024-2025

Tue is currently working as a part-time associate professor in immunology and pharmacology and a part-time rheumatologist in Aarhus and Silkeborg, Denmark.

Kragstrup lab focuses on the immunological mechanisms of inflammatory arthritis with a special interest in building in vitro models and bioinformatics pipelines for drug discovery, target validation, personalised medicine and drug repurposing. The rheumatology section in Silkeborg has a large outpatient clinic involved in biobanking, clinical trials, cohort studies and quality improvement projects.

Tue is the EMEUNET chair.

Email: kragstrup@biomed.au.dk

Diego serves as a consultant rheumatologist at Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge in Barcelona and as an assistant professor at the Universidad de Barcelona. Additionally, he collaborates as a Senior Medical Advisor at Savana, a company focused on artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine. Beyond his involvement in healthcare technology, particularly AI, his primary interests include spondyloarthritis, patient-reported outcomes and musculoskeletal epidemiology.

Diego is the chair-elect of EMEUNET.

E-mail: diegobenavent@bellvitgehospital.cat

Krystel is an assistant professor of rheumatology and a full-time consultant rheumatologist at Saint George Hospital University Medical Center in Lebanon, where she is actively involved in medical education and serves as the internal medicine coordinator for third-year medical students.

In 2019, she pursued her fellowship in Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris and obtained a Master’s degree in Science (MSc), biostatistics and Public Health (MPH) from Paris Saclay University under the mentorship of Prof Laure Gossec. Additionally, she holds a diploma in musculoskeletal ultrasound from Sorbonne Université, Paris. Her major interests are spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, patient-reported outcomes and imaging.

Krystel is the current Chair of the EMEUNET Visibility and Global Affairs Sub-Committee.

E-mail: krystel.aouad@hotmail.com

Sytske Anne is a post-doctoral clinical researcher at the Department of Rheumatology of the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden. In 2018, she obtained her PhD on worldwide treatment opportunities of rheumatoid arthritis.

Her major research interest is rheumatoid arthritis, with a focus on the optimal use of current treatment strategies, often in an international context. She has an interest in advanced statistics and methodology, which she applies to bridge the gap between scientifically studied treatment strategies and what is done in actual care.

Sytske Anne is the project coordinator of the METEOR registry and the Leiden Early Arthritis Clinic cohort, and co-chair of the EMEUNET Social Media Sub-Committee.

E-mail:s.a.bergstra@lumc.nl

Alvise is an assistant professor in rheumatology at the University of Trento and a consultant in the Rheumatology Unit, S. Chiara Hospital, Trento, Italy. He had the opportunity to work at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN, USA) during his education for a total of 2 years as VCRC-VF physician (Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium – Vasculitis Foundation).

In addition to his clinical work in the Rheumatology Unit, he conducts clinical and translational research within the field of rheumatology, with a focus on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, particularly in vasculitides and connective tissue diseases.

Alvise is the chair of the EMEUNET Peer-Mentoring Sub-Committee.

E-mail: alvise.berti@gmail.com

Ertugrul completed a rheumatology clinical fellowship and immunology MSc program at Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. After his postdoctoral fellowship in the Vasculitis Translational Research Program at the National Institute of Health (NIH), US, he is currently a consultant rheumatologist and physician-researcher at Etlik City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.

His research interests are focused on vasculitis, rare autoimmune/autoinflammatory diseases, imaging and translational medicine. He serves as lead section editor for the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases (OJRD). He has been a Twitter ambassador at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting since 2020.

Ertugrul is the chair of the EMEUNET Country Liaison Sub-Committee.

E-mail: ertugrulcagri@hotmail.com

Latika is a consultant rheumatologist and senior lecturer at the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Manchester, UK. Her research focuses on myositis, health equity and digital health innovations in rheumatology.

Latika holds key leadership positions in international rheumatology organisations, serving as the IMACS (International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group) mentorship lead and co-chair of the EMEUNET (Emerging EULAR Network) Social Media Sub-Committee, and board member of APLAR (Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology) Young Rheumatologists. Latika’s current research focuses on advancing holistic care and standardised biobanking in rheumatology, as co-lead for the COVAD study and MIHRA Biospecimen Group.

Latika is a co-chair of the EMEUNET Social Media Sub-Committee.

E-mail: drlatikagupta@gmail.com

Pierre-Antoine is an assistant professor at the Rheumatology department, Bichat Hospital, Université de Paris Cité, Paris. His major interests are the pulmonary manifestations of connective tissue diseases and rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease, in particular. He also participates in innovative educational programmes at his university, such as the ECOS (Examen Clinique Objectif et Structuré), which is a situational exercise that assesses the skills and knowledge of medical students.

Pierre-Antoine is the chair of the EMEUNET Education Sub-Committee.

E-mail: pierreantoine.juge@aphp.fr

Anastasia is a NIHR Manchester BRC Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Manchester and the Kellgren Centre, a Lupus UK Centre of Excellence, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

Her research focuses on multi-omic techniques to elucidate lupus spectrum disorders. She is the Trainee Trustee of the British Society for Rheumatology and a member of the EULAR Task Force for the Lupus Nephritis recommendations.

Anastasia is the chair of the EMEUNET Newsletter Sub-Committee.

E-mail: anastasia.madenidou@manchester.ac.uk