Ernest R. Vina, MD, MS, Program Director
Dr. Vina serves as Program Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Program and is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from UCLA in 1999 and his medical doctorate from the Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine, in 2004. He completed his internal medicine residency at Cedars Sinai Medical Center where he also completed a Health Services Research fellowship. His rheumatology fellowship was completed at the University of Chicago Medical Center in 2011, and he also earned a master's degree in Health Studies. He joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the UA Division of Rheumatology in 2014.
Prior to coming to the UA in 2014, Dr. Vina served as an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and as a staff rheumatologist in the Veteran’s Administration Pittsburgh Healthcare System. He was also the core investigator at the VAPHS Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, a VA Center of Excellence.
Dr. Vina’s research interests include racial disparities in systemic lupus erythematosus, treatment preferences, racial disparities in osteoarthritis, quality of care and health services.
He is a member of the American College of Rheumatology, the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Association and the Society for Medical Decision Making.
He has authored numerous publications on racial and ethnic disparities and treatment preferences in systemic lupus erythematosus among other subjects.
Dr. Vina is board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology.
C. Kent Kwoh, MD, Associate Director, Rheumatology Fellowship Program
Dr. Kwoh serves as Associate Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Training program and is a Professor of Medicine and Medical Imaging in the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson, Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and holds the Charles A.L. and Suzanne M. Stephens Endowed Chair in Rheumatology. He also serves as Director of the University of Arizona Arthritis Center, a Center of Excellence in the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson.
Dr. Kwoh’s clinical interests include rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and gout. His research interests include outcome assessment and the examination of risk factors for the development and progression of a broad spectrum of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. His current work focuses on the identification of biomarkers, most notably MRI imaging biomarkers, for the development and/or progression of knee osteoarthritis and the characterization of knee pain patterns in osteoarthritis. Another line of research targets the elimination of ethnic/racial disparities in the care of patients with osteoarthritis. A third area of interest is the evaluation of state-of-the-art imaging techniques (e.g., 3D imaging and thermography) to quantify inflammation in juvenile idiopathic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
He is a co-holder of three patents for a method using thermal, laser and other state-of-the-art imaging to assess the extent of arthritis in joints.
His research has been funded by grants from NIAMS, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Arthritis Foundation and other organizations. He is the author or co-author of over 200 scientific journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Kwoh has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international meetings, including conferences in China, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Taiwan.
Dr. Kwoh has mentored over 35 trainees and junior faculty in the areas of epidemiology and health services research related to rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. He is Chair of the Mentoring Committee for the Department of Medicine.
Prior to moving to the University of Arizona, Dr. Kwoh served as Chief of Rheumatology at the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center and Director of Clinical Research for the University of Pittsburgh Arthritis Institute, where he headed three major projects funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS): the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), the Pivotal OAI MRI Analyses (POMA), and the Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center for Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases.
Barbara Bode, MD, Fellowship Site Director, Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs System
Dr. Bode is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of Arizona College of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Rheumatology for the Southern Arizona Veteran's Affairs Health Care System. She is also the Fellowship Site Director for the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System. A native of Michigan, she earned her Bachelor Degrees in Chemistry and Zoology from Northern Arizona University, Summa cum Laude, and her Medical Doctorate from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency in Tucson and her fellowship in Rheumatology at the University of Arizona.
Her research interests involve the use of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of various management regimens in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoporosis and gout.
Dr. Bode is a member of the American College of Rheumatology and the American College of Physicians. She has co-authored several articles in peer reviewed journals to include Rheumatology International, American Journal of Medical Science, Arizona Geriatric Society, Arthritis and Rheumatism, and Arthritis Care and Research on topics ranging from treatment of systemic sclerosis, polymylagia rheumatica, scleroderma, management of asymptomatic coccidioidomycosis in rheumatic disease, and the effects of exercise programs on range of motion and pain in patients with osteoporosis.
Dr. Bode is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.