Ernest R. Vina, MD, MS, Program Director
Dr. Vina serves as co-interim director of the University of Arizona Arthritis Center and as
interim chief of the division of rheumatology. An associate professor of medicine in the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson., he also serves as the division of rheumatology fellowship program director. 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, where he also earned a master's degree in health studies. He joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the U of A 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 and the Osteoarthritis Research Society International. He has received research grants from the Rheumatology Research Foundation and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a unit of the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Vina has authored numerous publications on osteoarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and racial/ethnic disparities research in various rheumatologic and musculoskeletal diseases among other subjects. He has published in various journals, including the Journal of Rheumatology, Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, Osteoarthritis & Cartilage, and Arthritis Care & Research. He has served on the editorial board of Arthritis Care & Research and has served as an ad hoc abstract reviewer several times for the annual American College of Rheumatology Convergence meetings.
Dylan Lee, MD, Associate Program Director
Dr. Lee joined the faculty in the University of Arizona Department of Medicine/Division of Rheumatology after completing his rheumatology fellowship at the University Arizona in 2022. He earned dual bachelor's degrees in biology and economics at Siena College before going on to complete his medical doctorate at Albany Medical College. He performed his internal medicine residency at Pennsylvania State University in Hershey, Pa.
While in medical school, Dr. Lee was awarded the Outstanding Teacher Award and Best Poster Award. He was also a nominee for the Gold Society, recognizing outstanding achievement in teaching. Dr. Lee has presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting (Tie-1 Prevalence in RA, 2019) and has performed research on Rheumatoid Arthritis disease activity monitoring QI (quality improvement). In the summer of 2014, he served as an intern with the World Health Organization (WHO) working on Chikungunya Virus epidemiological tables during this epidemic. He also worked on the economic cost of antibiotic resistance and later presented his research to AMC’s global health interest group in 2015.
Dr. Lee serves as an assistant professor of medicine, and as associate director of the rheumatology fellowship program.
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.