Alexandre Sepriano MD, PhD is a rheumatologist at the rheumatology department of Hospital Egas Moniz, Lisbon, Portugal and a researcher at NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. He has done his PhD on the early recognition and long-term imaging outcomes of patients with axial spondyloarthritis at the Leiden University, under the supervision of Prof. Robert Landewé and Prof. Désirée van der Heijde. He has been trained in epidemiology and biostatistics in a 2-year postgraduate program organized by the Harvard Medical School. Dr Sepriano was the Chair of EMEUNET, the Emerging European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) Network between 2019-2020. His research focuses on the early recognition and treatment of spondyloarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis with a special interest in the application of innovative analytical methods to answer challenging clinical questions. Dr Sepriano is a member of the EULAR’s Quality of Care Committee, a member of the expert panel of the EULAR Virtual Research Center and has been involved in the development of EULAR recommendations for the management of patients with axial spondyloarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Alessia undertook her medical degree, specialty training in Rheumatology and PhD in medical biotechnologies at the University of Perugia, Italy. During her training, she also completed a research fellowship at the Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, Queen Mary University of London, UK. She is currently working as Academic and Consultant Rheumatologist at the Internal Medicine and Nephrology Unit, University of L'Aquila, Italy. Her research activity mainly focuses on the interplay of T and B lymphocyte subsets in Sjögren’s syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis and on the role of nutrition in rheumatic diseases. Over the last 15 years Alessia co-authored over 170 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. Alessia is a member of the Social Media Advisory team for Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases and RMD Open.

Ana Filipa is a Rheumatologist at Hospital Egas Moniz, in Lisbon. She obtained her PhD in 2016 studying the genetic and prognostic factors in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. In 2015 she started coordinating the Pediatric Rheumatology Clinics in Hospital de São Francisco Xavier. She joined the Acta Reumatológica Portuguesa team in 2007 and is co-author of more than 40 international papers, the majority in the field of Pediatric Rheumatology.

Ana Rodrigues, MD, PhD, is a clinical researcher and coordinator of the EpiDoC Unit at CEDOC and a member of the executive committee of CHRC research Unit (comprehensive health research Centre). She is an assistant professor of Epidemiology and Rheumatology at Nova Medical School. Ana Rodrigues is the coordinator of the rheumatology unit at Lusíadas Hospital and at Hospital do Santo Espírito de Angra do Heroísmo. She graduated in Medicine (Rheumatology) from the Lisbon School of Medicine, University of Lisbon. She finished her PhD in Medicine (Rheumatology) in 2018 at Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa. She completed the Clinical Scholars Research Training I and II from Harvard Medical School - Portugal Program in 2013, a two-year training program on clinical research. Her research is focused on clinical and epidemiological studies on osteoporosis and ageing. She also studies the use of ICTs for elderly health promotion.

Catia is a rheumatologist from Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra. She is currently PhD student in the Faculty of Medicine of Coimbra University with a focus in patient-centred care and individualized assessment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis as a guide to treatment. She has a special interest in patient-reported outcomes in RA and early arthritis. Catia commenced her editorial experience in Acta Reumatologica Portuguesa.

Cristina Ponte, MD, PhD, is a Rheumatologist at Hospital de Santa Maria, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte, Portugal, where she leads the Vasculitis Clinic. She is an Assistant Professor of Rheumatology at Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa and a Clinical Researcher at Instituto de Medicina Molecular, with a longstanding interest in vasculitis. She has worked as a Vasculitis Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Oxford (2013-2015) and has been involved in several vasculitis research projects, particularly related to the development of classification and diagnostic criteria in primary vasculitis and the use of ultrasound in the assessment of large vessel vasculitis.

Elsa Vieira de Sousa is a Rheumatology Consultant and Clinical Trials Unit Coordinator at the Rheumatology Department of Centro Hospitalar e Universitário Lisboa Norte. She is invited assistant Professor of Rheumatology at Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa and researcher at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular. Her main research interests are focused on spondylarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and synovial tissue. She was Chief-Editor of Acta Reumatológica Portuguesa between 2014 and 2020 and has authored more than 70 scientific papers.

Felice is a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Rheumatology at the Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology of Queen Mary University of London. He is a Clinical Immunologist and obtained his PhD in Immuno-rheumatology in 2016 with a thesis studying cells of the innate immunity in inflammatory arthritis. His current research focuses on the use of synovial biopsies to predict disease progression and treatment response in inflammatory arthritis. Felice is also the Past-Chair of the Emerging EULAR Network (EMEUNET).

Fernando M. Pimentel-Santos is Professor of Medicine/Rheumatology of the Integrated Master in Human Medicine at NOVA Medical School, NOVA University of Lisbon and rheumatologist in the CHLO, Egas Moniz Hospital, Rheumatology Department, Lisboa, Portugal; Head of Spondyloarthropathies Clinics and Coordinator of Multidisciplinary Rheumatology/Dermatology and Rheumatology/Ophthalmology clinics. He is the Principal Investigator at the Chronic Diseases Research Center (CEDOC, NMS-UNL), Rheumatic Diseases Group; he is conducting several research projects using -omic approaches to identify novel biomarkers associated with axSpA. He aims to contribute to an early diagnosis, create evidence for the muscle role in axSpA susceptibility/progression and personalized therapy approach. He is also the Coordinator of the Portuguese Spondyloarthritis Study Group (GESPA), Portuguese Society of Rheumatology (SPR). He has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals indexed to PubMed/Medline. He has been invited as a referee for several journals (e.g. Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis and Rheumatism, Arthritis Research Therapy, Acta Reumatológica Portuguesa, others).

Filipa qualified as a Rheumatologist in 2017, in Portugal. Her PhD, at University College London (United Kingdom), focuses on the clinical outcomes and on the autoantibodies and antigens involved in the pathogenesis of membranous lupus nephritis. Her main research interests include systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, epidemiology and biostatistics.

MD, PhD and Habillitation in Medicine (Rheumatology). Dean of NOVA Medical School (NMS), Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. President of Portuguese Society of Rheumatology. Full Professor of Medicine at NMS and Invited Professor of Epidemiology at National School of Public Health.

Jaime Branco was born in 1955, in Lisbon, and graduated in Medicine from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon in the year 1978. In 1992 started his career as a Rheumatology Hospital Assistant and in 1998 was promoted to Chief of Rheumatology Service. From 2006 till now have assumed the position of Director of the Rheumatology Service of the Hospital Center of Western Lisbon. PhD from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) in 1997, was hired as Assistant Invited Professor in 1999, performed aggregation tests in 2003, was hired as an Associate Professor in 2007 and has been Full Professor since 2012. In 2013 was elected Dean of NOVA Medical School | Faculty of Medical Sciences (NMS|FCM) of UNL, being regent of the Curricular Units of Medicine I from 2011 to 2014, of Medical-Surgical Specialties 1 since 2014, of Introduction to Clinical Practice in 2014 and of Pain since 2015. Throughout his professional career, was the author and co-author of hundreds of scientific publications, being Principal Investigator in the area of Rheumatology, of CEDOC - Center for Chronic Disease Studies of NMS|FCM of UNL, since 2007. All the projects and works in which he has participated and continue to participate have already been recognized through the award of 43 different prizes, among others stand out the BIAL Prize of Clinical Medicine 2008 and BIAL Grand Prize of Medicine in 2016.

Javier is an assistant professor of immunology at the University of Oviedo and researcher at the ISPA (Spain). After completing a research stay at the Academic Medical Centre (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) on the role of lymph node activation in early rheumatoid arthritis, he obtained his PhD from the University of Oviedo in 2015. During his postdoctoral years, he become interested in the interplay between microbiota and lipid metabolism and endothelial damage in chronic kidney disease. His current research interests are the endothelial damage and vascular repair during the very early stage of rheumatic diseases, with a special focus on translational biomarkers for cardiovascular risk assessment, as well as high-throughput lipoprotein approaches and lipidomics in chronic conditions. Javier serves as associate editor in BMC Rheumatology, Frontiers in Medicine (Rheumatology) and Acta Reumatológica Portuguesa, in addition to his role as invited reviewer in several international journals. He is also involved as social media editor in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases and RMD Open. Javier is also part of the EULAR Journal Club team and he has recently (2021) joined the European Atherosclerosis Society as social media ambassador.

João Eurico Fonseca is the Dean of the Lisbon School of Medicine (ULisboa) and the Director of the Rheumatology Department of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte, Lisbon Academic Medical Centre. He is also Full Professor of Rheumatology and the Coordinator of the Rheumatology Research Unit at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal. His research focuses on markers for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment response in the field of arthritis, with a special interest in synovial tissue. Professor Fonseca is a member of the editorial board of several medical journals and has authored more than 300 scientific papers.

Joaquim is a Rheumatologist at Hospital de Santa Maria, Centro Académico de Medicina de Lisboa since 2012 and Assistant Lecturer of Rheumatology and Anatomy and Histology at Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa since 2009. His main research interests are on rheumatoid arthritis and musculoskeletal ultrasound, having EULAR and ACR (RhMSUS) musculoskeletal ultrasound certification since 2016. Reviewer of Arthritis Research & Therapy, Acta Reumatológica Portuguesa, Frontiers in Medicine, BMJ Case Reports, Rheumatology. Editor-in-chief of Acta Reumatologica Portuguesa from May to October 2014 and from June to September 2017.

JAP da Silva is full Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Coimbra, having obtained his PhD at the University of London in 1993. He has served as chair of Standing Committee for Education and Training and as member of the Executive Committee of EULAR. Past-President of The European Board of Rheumatology. Author and co-author of over 250 peer-reviewed publications and several books and book chapters, including Rheumatology in Practice (Springer) and Eular Textbook of Rheumatology (several editions). Special interest in the patient's perspective and psychological aspects of rheumatic diseases. Hoechst Index 47 (as of Dec 2021)

Lovro Lamot is a pediatric rheumatologist and pediatric nephrology fellow at University Hospital Center Zagreb, as well as a postdoctoral fellow and research associate at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in Zagreb, Croatia. His main research interests are immune-mediated inflammatory diseases in children. He finished his PhD in Biomedicine at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine and a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric rheumatology at the University of British Columbia and British Columbia Children's Hospital in Vancouver, Canada. He is a (co)author of more than 40 articles in international peer-reviewed journals in the field of paediatrics, rheumatology, and nephrology. He is a member of many professional societies, international scientific congress committees and awareness-raising campaigns. He is the founder and past head of the EMERGE group of young pediatric rheumatologists and researchers working in the Pediatric rheumatology European Society (PReS).

Luis Sousa-Ines, MD, PhD, is a Rheumatologist at Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, responsible for the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Consultation and Guest Assistant Professor of Rheumatology at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior. He is also the Secretary General of the European Lupus Society (SLEuro) and Coordinator of postgraduate training in Rheumatology at the Rheumatology Service of his institution. He has more than 100 scientific publications in indexed international journals and is the Principal investigator and national coordinator in several clinical trials (phase 2 3) in Rheumatology. He is also a reviewer in more than 10 indexed international scientific journals of Rheumatology and a member of the editorial board of the scientific journals Rheumatology Internacional and ARP, as well as guest editor of the scientific journal Best Practice and Research Clinical Rheumatology.

Maria José Santos is the Director of the Rheumatology Department of the Hospital Garcia de Orta in Almada. She is also Assistant Professor of Rheumatology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, and member of the Scientific Board of the Rheumatic Diseases Portuguese Register (Reuma.pt). Her main areas of interest are connective tissue diseases, rheumatic diseases of childhood and co-morbidity in systemic rheumatic diseases.

Pedro M Machado, MD PhD FRCP, is an Associate Professor and Consultant Rheumatologist at University College London (UCL), University College London Hospitals (UCH) and Northwick Park Hospital, United Kingdom. His research interests include the assessment and prediction of outcomes in rheumatic diseases, with a focus on spondyloarthritis and myositis. He has published >180 peer-reviewed articles. He is the past-chair of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Standing Committee on Epidemiology and Health Services Research (SCEHSR). He is a member of the EULAR Research Committee, COVID–19 Global Rheumatology Alliance (GRA) Steering Committee, EULAR COVID-19 and COVAX Registries Steering Committee, Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS), British Society of Spondyloarthritis (BRITSpA), British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) and Portuguese Society of Rheumatology (SPR).

Sandra obtained her PhD in Rheumatology Clinical Investigation from Nova Medical School, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, where she examined the use of Doppler ultrasound in the assessment of entheseal lesions in spondyloarthritis, and its added value for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Sandra commenced her editorial career in Acta Reumatológica Portuguesa, and has extensive experience in reviewing articles from peer-reviewers journals.

Sofia obtained her PhD in rheumatology from the University of Amsterdam focusing on the long-term outcomes of patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Sofia continued her research career at the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, where she works as a senior researcher. This in parallel with her clinical career as a rheumatologist. Sofia contributes as a reviewer to several high impact factor journals from the area of rheumatology. She is a member of the Editorial Board from RMD Open and from ARP Rheumatology.

Tânia Santiago, MD, PhD, is a rheumatologist at the rheumatology department of Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, and co-responsible for the Raynaud, Systemic Sclerosis and Capillaroscopy Clinic. Tânia has done her PhD on the Applications of ultrasound assessment of skin in patients with systemic sclerosis, at Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Coimbra where she is Assistant Professor of Rheumatology. She is counsellor of the EUropean Scleroderma Trials And Research group (EUSTAR) Board and member of EUSTAR Young Investigator group. Her main areas of interest are connective tissue diseases, namely systemic sclerosis, ultrasound, and patient reported outcomes.

Daniela Santos Faria completed her master degree in medicine in 2012 and is currently a Rheumatology Consultant at the Rheumatology department of Unidade Local de Saude do Alto Minho in Ponte de Lima, Portugal. She is also a faculty member of the University of Minho Medical School in Braga, Portugal, where she lectures the rheumatology curricular units.

Ricardo Ferreira obtained his PhD in Health Sciences - Nursing from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra, where he investigated the "Impact of patient-reported outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis' assessment and management". He is an Auxiliar Researcher at the "Nursing Research, Innovation and Development Centre of Lisbon (CIDNUR)", School of Nursing in Lisbon (ESEL). His main interest nowadays is to develop a model in which PROMs can be adopted as a target in the overall management of RA (and other RMDs) in parallel with disease activity measures. He is the Chair of the EULAR Health Professionals in Rheumatology Committee (2019-2023).

As a molecular biologist, João was a research fellow on the Rheumatology Research Unit (Institute of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon), where he studied new genetic markers for rheumatoid arthritis activity and severity. Since 2006 he is cooperating with the Portuguese Society of Rheumatology as Technical Editor of its official Journal.