Rheumatology Fellowship Graduate Michel Villatoro-Villar, MD, and UArizona Arthritis Center Director C. Kent Kwoh, MD Publish Article on Bisphosphonates

Jul 5, 2021

Recently-graduated from the University of Arizona Arthritis Center/UArizona Division of Rheumatology Fellowship Program, Michel Villatoro-Villar, MD, served as the first author on a publication released on July 3, 2021, titled 'Bisphosphonates, Bone and Joint Pain'.  UAAC Director and Rheumatology Chief C. Kent Kwoh, MD, served as the second author. 

The article was published in the online journal 'Current Osteoporosis Reports'.  'Current Osteoporosis Reports' provides in-depth review articles contributed by international experts on the most significant developments in the field. To view this publication, please click on the title below:

Bisphosphonates, Bone and Joint Pain

 

About Dr. Villatoro-Villar:

Dr. Villatoro-Villar is a June, 2021 graduate of the Rheumatology Fellowship program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson.  He completed his medical degree at the Military Medical School (Escuela Medico Militar), Mexico City in 2010 and his residency in internal medicine (Chief Resident) at the Hospital Central Militar, also in Mexico City in 2017.  In addition, he has earned both master’s (2015) and doctoral degrees (2017) in medical sciences from the Anahuac University in Mexico City.  Prior to beginning his fellowship at the University of Arizona, Dr. Villatoro-Villar served as a research fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., from 2017-19.

DEGREES
MD: Military Medical School (Escuela Medico Militar), Mexico City, 2010
MS: Medical Sciences, Anahuac University, Mexico City, 2015

RESIDENCY
Internal Medicine, Hospital Central Militar, Mexico City, 2017

 

About Dr. Kwoh:

Dr. Kwoh is a Professor of Medicine and Medical Imaging in the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and holds the Charles A.L. and Suzanne M. Stephens Endowed Chair in Rheumatology.  He serves as director of the University of Arizona Arthritis Center, a Center of Excellence in the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He was named to these positions in July, 2013.

Dr. Kwoh earned his bachelor’s degree in honors biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1975 and his Medical Doctorate from the the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1979. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at the University of Illinois Hospitals in 1982 and a fellowship in Rheumatology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in 1984. Before coming to the University of Arizona, Dr. Kwoh was the Director of Clinical Research at the University of Pittsburgh Arthritis Institute as well as a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology from 2000 until 2013. Simultaneously, he held a joint appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute while working as a staff physician in addition to being Rheumatology Section Chief in the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare Systems.

His major research interests are in 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. He also has a major interest in the reduction and ultimately the elimination of disparities in the management of arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases.  Dr. Kwoh recently completed research as the Principal Investigator (PI) on a five-year, $6.1 million grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) unit of the National Institutes of Health, for a study entitled 'Risk of Incident Knee Osteoarthritis and Clinical Outcomes Based on Imaging Biomarkers'.  In September, 2017, he was awarded a $2.1 million grant, also from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) unit of the National Institutes of Health, for a study entitled 'Tracking Treatable Tissues: Change in qMRI Biomarkers and Future Cartilage Loss'.  Dr. Kwoh is also the co-Investigator or executive committee member on four additional studies with both the NIH and the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs.

He is a member of the Arthritis Foundation, the American Federation for Clinical Research, the Osteoarthritis Research Society International, ISIS Fund Network of the Society for Women’s Health Research and was a founding fellow and member of the American College of Rheumatology. He is the author or co-author of over 270 scientific journal articles and book chapters.  Dr. Kwoh has served on the editorial board of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage and Arthritis Care and Research and is an ad hoc reviewer for numerous other professional journals including Arthritis and Rheumatism, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis Research and Therapy, Arthritis Care and Research, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage and the Journal of Rheumatology.

Dr. Kwoh has won many awards including the Northeast Region Senior Rheumatology Scholar Award, the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and was a finalist in the post-doctoral competition from the Society for Medical Decision Making.  In November 2015, he was named the University of Arizona Asian American Faculty, Staff and Alumni Association's Outstanding Faculty award winner.  In 2019, he was named as the Medical Honoree for the Arthritis Foundation's Jingle Bell Run - Tucson.

His clinical interests include knee, hip and hand osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory back pain (spondyloarthritis) and lupus.

Dr. Kwoh is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

DEGREES
MD: University of Illinois - Chicago, 1979
BS: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, Honors Biology, 1975

RESIDENCY
Internal Medicine, University of Illinois Hospitals, 1982

FELLOWSHIP
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Rheumatology
Yale University School of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar (Veteran's Administration)

BOARD CERTIFICATIONS
American Board of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine - General
American Board of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology - Subspecialty

HONORS
The Northeast Region Senior Rheumatology Scholar Award
The Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar Award
Finalist - post-doctoral competition from the Society for Medical Decision Making
The University of Arizona Asian-American Faculty, Staff and Alumni Association's Outstanding Faculty Award Winner