Dr. Eric P. Gall Honored with 2012 Arthritis Foundation’s ‘Freedom of Movement Award’

Eric P. Gall, MD, MACP, MACR, interim director and one of the founders of The University of Arizona Arthritis Center at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, has been honored with the Arthritis Foundation’s top honor, the Freedom of Movement Award. Dr. Gall was recognized for his long association with the Arthritis Foundation and his many leadership roles within the organization. The award was presented at the organization’s recent black tie gala in Chicago.

 

A leader, visionary and educator who has devoted his life to betterment of others, Dr. Gall has been one of the Arthritis Foundation’s staunchest advocates over the past 25 years. His outstanding contributions to the field of rheumatology – and to the many health-care professionals who have followed in his footsteps – have made an indelible mark on modern medicine. He has been named by his peers for inclusion in the Best Doctors in America® from 2001 to the present.

 

He is chair of the Arthritis Foundation’s national Public Health Committee and has served as chair of the Professional Education Committee, chair of the Greater Chicago Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, vice chair and member of the National Board of Trustees and a member of the National Leadership Council.

 

Active in a number of professional societies, Dr. Gall has served as president of the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals, a division of the American College of Rheumatology, and is a master and founding member of the American College of Rheumatology, where he was a member of the board of directors. He is a master and laureate of the American College of Physicians and secretary of the Arizona chapter. He has served on the board of trustees of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society.

 

A national expert on innovative teaching methods, Dr. Gall is active on many committees addressing teaching methods and curricula at the medical school level and in the specialty of rheumatology. He has a strong interest in developing educational programs for training primary care physicians, medical students and residents.

 

He is widely published on rheumatology, including articles in Arthritis and Rheumatism, the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of Rheumatology, and American Family Physician.

 

His research interests include new treatments for arthritis; the development of arthritis, metabolic bone disease and hemophilic arthritis (arthritis in hemophiliacs); and diseases with abnormal collagen that result in hypermobility (joint movement beyond the normal range of motion). He serves as an expert consultant on hypermobility disorders, such as Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.

 

Dr. Gall is emeritus professor of medicine with the Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, where he was chair of the Department of Medicine from 1994-2009.

 

In 2010, he returned to The University of Arizona Arthritis Center to work with the fellowship program before accepting the position of interim director. He also is professor of clinical medicine in the UA Department of Medicine Section of Rheumatology.

 

In 1978, the UA College of Medicine was among the first 11 institutions in the nation to receive a National Institutes of Health Multipurpose Arthritis Center (MAC) grant, authorized by Congress under the National Arthritis Act, laying the foundation for the Arizona Arthritis Center. In 1985, the Arizona Board of Regents approved the concept for the Arizona Arthritis Center as a Center of Excellence at the UA College of Medicine; Dr. Gall and Robert Volz, MD, were named founding directors.

 

A UA College of Medicine faculty member from 1973-1994, Dr. Gall also served as chief of the Section of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology.

 

Dr. Gall received an AB (artium baccalaureus) degree with honors in zoology in 1962 and his medical degree in 1966 from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed an internship at the University of Cincinnati in 1967 and residencies in medicine at the University of Cincinnati in 1968 and at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. He completed a fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1973.

 

He served as a major and a preventive medicine officer in the U.S. Army, including a year with the 4th Infantry Division in the Republic of Vietnam from 1968-70, and was awarded the Bronze Star.