Wits Rheumatologists are named among the most referenced researchers worldwide
- FHS Communications
Rheumatologists and Wits Professors Patrick Dessein and Miguel González-Gay are in the top 0.05% of global researchers in their field. This prestigious recognition by ScholarGPS highlights Dessein’s and González-Gay's notable lifetime contributions to rheumatology research.
Both professors are practicing Rheumatologists and Honorary Research Professors in the Cardiovascular Pathophysiology and Genomics Research Unit (CPGRU), Wits School of Physiology. Their career paths follow a unique arrangement as clinical practitioners seldom partake in active academia, and vice versa – an approach that translates research outputs directly into enhancing patient care.
The pair, who have also collaborated, have significantly advanced the knowledge of cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular disorders in patients with renal and rheumatic diseases on a global scale. “Both Profs Dessein and González-Gay humbly go about their research and yet make substantial international contributions to the understanding of cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular diseases in patients with rheumatoid diseases as well as renal diseases,” says Professor Angela Woodiwiss, the Director of CPGRU.
ScholarGPS’s rankings are determined by the number of publications that researchers have published, the impact of their work which is measured by citations per published research paper, and the quality of their scholarly output (h-index).
Image: Professor Patrick Dessein
Ranked for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), arthritis and cardiovascular disease, Professor Dessein says that being a practitioner allows him to collect extensive clinical data and conduct comparative studies which he would not be able to do if he were solely in academia. He says that it is through such studies that he has been able to contribute to research and data on these conditions, particularly in Southern Africa. "89% of what is recommended [on these diseases] comes from Europe or North America and we blindly apply it. But it doesn’t work for us,” he explains.
He says that he observed that it is socioeconomics that plays a role in predisposing patients to RA, for example – not race, as is widely perceived. His work was also one of the first to link insulin resistance to RA which significantly grew this research area.
Although Dessein runs his own private practice now, he also volunteers his expertise at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital on weekends which facilitates knowledge-sharing between the two vastly different environments. “Medicine is very easy. If it sounds complicated, the one that is explaining it doesn’t understand it,” adds Dessein about how this approach has helped him and his colleagues mutually gain insights on treatments. He says that aside from the obvious under-resourced state of the public sector, he enjoys that it forces him to think creatively to find solutions.
Image: Professor Miguel González-Gay
Professor González-Gay is ranked for his work on giant-cell arthritis, giant cell and arthritis. He is based in Spain where he is also a Rheumatology clinical researcher at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation University Hospital in Madrid. He has previously headed several Rheumatology institutes and led Genomic Epidemiology research efforts.
“Partnering with private practitioners has created opportunities of mutual benefit to both parties. In essence, we get access to their vast databases, while the practitioner has the opportunity to harness their skills and knowledge within their specialty by continuing to do cutting-edge research”, adds Professor William Daniels, the Head of the School of Physiology.
Professor Daniels noted that the co-supervision of postgraduate students by both Professors González-Gay and Dessein also offers them insights into academia as well as exposure to the private sector. This has the potential to steer a new generation of private practitioner researchers and continue to build on the foundation that this dynamic has contributed to the School of Physiology’s balanced ecosystem. He says that the caliber of work produced by the two, positions the school as a world leader in teaching and researching physiology and pathophysiology “This arrangement has been extremely useful to our students when entering the job market,” he explains.
In uncovering the mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in patients, Professor Woodiwiss says that these research contributions have guided clinical approaches to better management of patients with rheumatoid or renal diseases and hence the prevention of CVDs in these patients. “It is a great honour to work together with these two remarkable researchers and to have them as part of our CPGRU team,” she exclaims.