Building our Research Community

David Cabral: Ross Petty-Arthritis Society Research Chair

Dr. David Cabral is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Head of its Division of Rheumatology. In March 2015, he was named the first holder of the Ross Petty-Arthritis Society Research Chair in Pediatric Rheumatology. Dr.Cabral co-founded the Young Adult Rheumatic Disease (YARD) clinic, the first chronic disease transition clinic at BC Children’s Hospital, which has been a model for other pediatric rheumatology programs across the country. His research interests include the study of juvenile idiopathic arthritis and pediatric vasculitis. He has participated in, or helped establish, national and international physician networks and patient registries for the study of children with rheumatic disease.

“Because most of the diseases we are involved with are rare, registries are an essential for many aspects of research” says Dr. Cabral. “Currently, I am excited to be expanding our registry horizons to help with research on ‘what matters most to patients’. I am involved in information technology initiatives that will allow using accumulating clinical data, integrated across different registries, ideally towards providing personalized medicine to patients and their families.”

I am excited to be expanding our registry horizons to help with research on ‘what matters most to patients’.

David Cabral

Richard Mulcaster, Executive Director of the Arthritis Society, BC & Yukon, which provided funds for the chair, believes Dr. Cabral is the absolute right fit for this position. “[Dr. Cabral] is highly esteemed and is known for his insight and clinical judgment, and incredible research that will improve treatments and move us closer to a cure for this complex disease in children,” he says. “The Chair will act as a bridge between research done in the lab and actual treatment, which means discoveries made in the lab will be used more quickly to improve the care of children living with juvenile arthritis.”

In his role as Chair, Dr. Cabral will ensure children with chronic arthritis (juvenile idiopathic arthritis – JIA) and other rheumatic disease such as Lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus – SLE), Vasculitis and fever syndromes benefit from research findings sooner, and he will play a critical role in treating children with these rheumatic diseases and training the next generation of pediatric rheumatologists.

Dr. Cabral is personally honoured by the appointment, but he also sees it as a tribute to the renown of UBC’s Pediatric Rheumatology program and all of the individuals (past and present) who are a part of it. “The program has had a longstanding mandate to integrate research with clinical care and teaching,” he explains. “This appointment specifically provides our group some dedicated research time towards that end.”