Research at the department of rheumatology, Diakonhjemmet Hospital
The department of rheumatology at Diakonhjemmet Hospital has the responsibility for rheumatic joint diseases in Oslo, regional functions in the South-Eastern Norway and national responsibilities for complicated rehabilitation programs. The department has strong research groups in several areas and wishes to take a leading responsibility in raising both the quality and quantity of rheumatology research on a national level, and to be highly competitive internationally. The department has three main research areas: 1) General medical research in rheumatology with a strong focus on imaging modalities [coordinated by professor Tore K Kvien], 2) Cardiovascular prevention and research in patients with rheumatic joint diseases [coordinated by senior researcher and cardiologist Anne Grete Semb] and 3) Rehabilitation research in rheumatology with a focus on outcome research (The National Competence centre for Rehabilitation in Rheumatology (NRRK), coordinated by professor Kåre Birger Hagen). The department has status as “EULAR Centre of Excellence” in rheumatology research in Europe (see www.eular.org), is the South-Eastern Norway Health Authority Rheumatology Research Group and has an extensive and increasing research production over the last years with 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed international journals in 2011. Twenty-six PhD candidates have successfully defended their thesis since 2000 (17 since 2008). The Norwegian Research Council rated the group as “Very good to Excellent” in 2011.