FEATURE
Dr. Murray B. Urowitz MD, FRCP(C) Director, Centre for Prognosis Studies in Rheumatic Diseases; Senior Scientist, Toronto Western Research Institute, Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto Full Member, Institute of Medical Science
PHENOTYPING SLE: The Framework is in Place, the Journey is just Beginning By Vanessa Rojas-Luengas
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t is widely said that if you follow your passion, success will follow you. Dr. Murray B Urowitz is an exemplary case. His deep curiosity and concern for Lupus afflicted patients led him to become a trailblazer in translational clinical research, establishing personalized medicine within the context of this highly variable disease. Along the way, his contributions to the field have been recognized nationally and internationally; most notably, he received the 1995 Distinguished Rheumatology Award from the Canadian Rheumatology Association, the 2004 Duncan Graham Award by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the 2009 18 | IMS MAGAZINE WINTER 2016 IMMUNOLOGY
Evelyn V. Hess Award by the Lupus Foundation of America. Why lupus? Dr. Urowitz gleamed with pride as he shared what drew him to the field of lupus. During his years as a medical student at the University of Toronto, he fell in love with the various biological systems involved in the study of medicine. Early on, as he saw patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), he quickly recognized the involvement of the various systems in this autoimmune disease, affecting most if not all organs of patients. Every patient seemed to be a unique case, and it was the complex nature of this
disease that drew Dr. Urowitz into the field of SLE. Inspired, in 1974 he went on to complete his post-graduate training in rheumatology at Johns Hopkins University and at the University of Toronto. SLE is a chronic, systematic autoimmune disease estimated to affect 1 in 2,000 Canadians.1 Although this heterogeneous condition affects men and women of all ages, the majority of patients are women in their child-bearing years.2 In fact, women are affected ten times more than men. Dr. Urowitz recalls that in the past, women presenting with multiple symptoms were assumed to have a type of connective