Dr. O’Dell named president of American College of Rheumatology

UNMC’s James O’Dell, M.D., has been appointed 2012 president of the American College of Rheumatology — an international society that represents more than 8,000 rheumatology health professionals.

James O’Dell, M.D.

Dr. O’Dell — chief of the UNMC Division of Rheumatology — is the founder and director of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Investigational Network (called RAIN) — a 22-year-old group of rheumatologists that exclusively conducts investigator-initiated trials to find better treatments for RA.

The group has:

• Pioneered the use of triple therapy to treat RA;
  
• Described genetic factors that predict response to therapy; and
  
• Designed and participated in studies to compare the efficacy of conventional and biologic medicines.

Dr. O’Dell also is principal investigator of a large, multinational RA research study through the Veterans Administration’s Cooperative Studies Program.

Dr. O’Dell’s many scholarly publications include articles on his study of the success of triple therapy and authorship of a review, “Therapeutic Strategies for Rheumatoid Arthritis,” in the New England Journal of Medicine.