Professor Karim Raza BA, BMBCh, FRCP, PhD

FRCP 2009

PhD, University of Birmingham,  2004

BMBCh, Oxford University,  1993

BA (Physiological Sciences), Oxford University, 1990

Professor Karim Raza plays an active role in teaching clinical rheumatology to 3rd and 4th year medical students at the University of Birmingham.

At a postgraduate level, he teaches on several postgraduate courses and supervises doctors on the Academic Clinical Training program. In addition, his research group includes PhD students, whose supervision and teaching he plays a central role in.

Professor Raza has supervised  many clinical and non-clinical research fellows through to successful completion of their PhDs

Professor Raza’s research focuses on rheumatoid arthritis, the most common of the chronic inflammatory joint diseases. Within this disease area, his research addresses pathogenic mechanisms, biomarker development and strategies to enhance clinical outcomes for patients with a new onset of disease. Specifically he is interested in:

1. Mechanisms driving the molecular basis for the switch to disease persistence and the timing of this switch in early arthritis.
2. Predictors of outcome in patients with early inflammatory arthritis.
3. Novel anti-inflammatory mechanisms that may be useful in the control of persistent inflammation, including vitamin D and endogenously generated glucocorticoids.
4. Management pathways for patients with early rheumatoid arthritis, including the development of strategies to facilitate rapid patient assessment.
5. Perspectives of patients and members of the public about RA and the concept of ‘risk’ in relation to RA to facilitate informed engagement with predictive and early treatment strategies.

Positions of responsibility include:

1. Director of Research and Development at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust (2014-present).
2. Co-chair of the EULAR Study Group on Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis rheumatoid arthritis (2011-2018).

Committee membership:

1. Member of the Arthritis Research UK Clinical Studies Central Progress Review Committee (2009- 2013) and of the Arthritis Research UK Research sub-committee (2013-2017).
2. Member of the following  EULAR taskforces:
   [1] ‘EULAR recommendations for the standardised content and structure of minimum data collection to harmonise observational research in rheumatoid arthritis’ (2015-16).
   [2] ‘EULAR classification criteria for arthralgia that is clinically suspect for progression to rheumatoid arthritis’ (2015-16).
   [3] ‘Update of the 2007 EULAR recommendations for the management of early arthritis’ (2015-16). 
3. Member of the British Society for Rheumatology’s Research Committee (2014-2018). 

Editorial Board membership:

Member of the Editorial board for Rheumatology (2011-2015) and for RMD Open (2017-present)

Patient and Public involvement in research:

Patients and members of the public play an important role in the development, delivery and dissemination of my research, enhancing its relevance and impact. Professor Raza has been instrumental in establishing the Birmingham Rheumatology Research Patient Partnership (R2P2) which has 40 active members and provides crucial input into clinical and translational studies across the Rheumatology Research Group.