Gary S. Firestein, MD is Chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology and Dean of Translational Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He is an author of more than 220 articles and chapters and has edited and authored several books, including Kelley’s Textbook of Rheumatology, 9th Edition.

Dr. Firestein served as a chairman of the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee for two years, and he was the founding Director of the UCSD Clinical Investigation Institute. He also founded the UCSD Center for Innovative Therapy to promote translational research in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. His research in the area of rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune disorders has been pivotal, and he has been honored with the Distinguished Basic Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology. Dr. Firestein has also received the Jane Wyman Humanitarian Award, the Carol-Nachman Prize, and the Lee C. Howley Sr. Prize for Arthritis Research by the Arthritis Foundation. In addition, he has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.