Dr Deva Situnayake is a consultant rheumatologist, director and multi-disciplinary team lead for the Birmingham Behcets Centre of Excellence, one of three National Centres of Excellence which he helped to establish. He has previously worked in multiple medical leadership roles including as Medical Director. He graduated in Birmingham and completed his higher specialist training in Edinburgh, having undertaken a 2 year period of clinical and laboratory research in free radical biology in Birmingham, later completing a Masters degree in medical leadership at Warwick. Since commencing as a consultant in 1990 research has underpinned his clinical practice in inflammatory rheumatic diseases including, lupus, connective tissue disease, inflammatory arthritis and Behcets. He remains curious and fascinated by ethnic influence on disease outcome, phenotype and biology and has published papers spanning the genetics of rheumatoid arthritis and clinical trials. Current work focuses on Behcets epidemiology, the evolution of the clinical phenotype, and leading access to treatment by further developing a National treatment pathway with colleagues. As one of the three PI’s he received NIHR funding for the UK BioBehcets trial (Infliximab v Interferon alpha, in press) and supported an ongoing trial of secukinumab in BS. In his leadership roles he has been fortunate to have been involved in design and delivery of healthcare systems and a new hospital and those learned skills have been employed in creating ‘one stop’ multidisciplinary approaches to healthcare in the National Behcets Centres of Excellence. In this it has been a privilige to work closely with Professors Moots (Liverpool) and Fortune (London). Apart from time spent with his family he is also a keen runner, surfer and golfer!

Disclosures:

Sponsorship from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation to support Educational meetings and funding from Bechet’s UK, NIHR / MRC.