Dr. Runsheng Wang Receives 2019 Spondylitis Association of America (SAA)/Bruckel Early Career Investigator Award

Dr. Runsheng Wang, MD, MHS, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, was awarded the 2019 SAA/Bruckel Early Career Investigator Award, recognizing her "outstanding contributions to the care and understanding of patients with spondyloarthritis." Dr. Wang will receive a $20,000 award from SAA for research in spondylitis.  The award, named in honor of SAA co-founder Jane Bruckel, is given annually to an early career investigator who shows the most promise to contribute to the understanding or therapy of the disease. 

Dr. Wang’s research focuses on the epidemiology and management of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).  Spondyloarthritis (pronounced spon-dyl-oh-arthritis) is a group of inflammatory spine conditions, that affect spine, joints, eyes, skin and bowel, including ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic spondylitis and undifferentiated spondyloarthritis.  Dr. Wang will continue her research in these areas, to better understand the effectiveness and safety of medications for individual patients with axSpA. 

“My career goal is to become an independent clinical investigator and a leader in comparative effectiveness research in axSpA,” Dr. Wang said, “to identify the most effective therapeutic agents for individual patients, and to investigate the most effective treatment strategy to prevent structural damage in patients with axSpA.”   

The Centers for Disease Control's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) study estimates that at least 2.7 million adults in the United States have axSpA.