C. Kent Kwoh, MD, Director of the University of Arizona Arthritis Center and Chief of the UA Division of Rheumatology, proudly announces the naming of Dr. Ernest Vina to the UA Arthritis Center and the Division of Rheumatology.
Dr. Vina joins the UA as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He will practice at the University of Arizona Rheumatology Physician Offices and Infusion Clinic located at the University Medical Center ~ South Campus, 2800 E. Ajo Way, Suite 103.
He earned his Bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from UCLA in 1999 and his Medical Doctorate from the Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University, in 2004. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he also completed a Health Services Research fellowship. His Rheumatology fellowship was completed at the University of Chicago Medical Center in 2011 where he also earned a Master's degree in Health Studies. Prior to coming to the UA, Dr. Vina served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and as a staff rheumatologist in the Veteran’s Administration Pittsburgh Healthcare System. He was also the core investigator at the VAPHS Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, a VA Center of Excellence.
Dr. Vina’s research interests include racial/ethnic disparities in systemic lupus erythematosus, treatment preferences, racial/ethnic disparities in osteoarthritis, quality of care and health services. He is a member of the American College of Rheumatology, the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Association and the Society for Medical Decision Making. He has authored numerous publications on racial and ethnic disparities and treatment preferences in systemic lupus erythematosus among other subjects.
Dr. Vina is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.