George Kitas MD, PhD, FRCP qualified in Greece in 1985, pursued PhD studies followed by clinical training in Birmingham, UK and was appointed Consultant Rheumatologist at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust (Teaching) in 1995, where he was/is Head of Rheumatology, Clinical Director, R&D Director and Deputy Medical Director. He is Honorary Professor of Clinical Rheumatology at the Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Unit, Manchester University, of Behavioural Rheumatology at Birmingham University, and of Rheumatology, Musculoskeletal Health and Exercise at Wolverhampton University. From 2011 he is also Director of Rheumatology at “Hygeia” Hospital and Visiting Professor in Greece. He is Chief Editor of the newly established Mediterranean Journal of Rheumatology, editorial board member of 6 international journals, expert reviewer for more than 40 international journals, and evaluator for funding bodies and the quality assessment agencies for higher education and research of several countries, including the UK, France, Ireland, Holland, Greece, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong and South Africa. He leads the “Rheumatoid Arthritis Co-morbidity Research Group”, has supervised more than 20 MDs and PhDs and has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed original publications and book chapters (current h index 75, more than 21500 citations). He has received research grants from multiple sources, including the Medical Research Council, Arthritis Research UK, British Heart Foundation and the pharmaceutical industry. He is/was Chief Investigator of TRACE RA, the largest Academically-led multicentre prospective RCT in RA in the World, founding member of the multidisciplinary West Midlands Rheumatology Forum and the community-based Birmingham Arthritis Resource Centre, Chairman of the West Midlands Rheumatology Services and Training Committee, Regional Specialty Advisor and Associate International Director (Europe) of the Royal College of Physicians, member of the BSR Council, vice-chair of the BSR Heberden Committee, convenor of the BSR Cardiovascular co-morbidity Special Interest Group, member of the EULAR task force on cardiovascular risk management in rheumatic diseases and Chair of the “National Action Plan for Rheumatology” in Greece. He has been granted several national and international awards, including bronze and silver Clinical Excellence Awards in the UK, honorary doctorates at the Universities of Thessaly and Patras and Visiting Professorships at the Universities of Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece, the “Boland” Visiting Professorship of Rheumatology at the Mayo Clinic Medical School, USA and the “Skou” Honorary Professorship at the University of Aarhus, Denmark.