Virtual Lupus Medical Symposium - Milwaukee

Alvin F. Wells, MD, PhD presenting Bringing Lupus Nephritis out of the Shadows

Sponsored by Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Dr. Wells is currently a practicing rheumatologist at the Aurora Rheumatology and Immunotherapy Center in Franklin, Wisconsin, where he serves as the Director. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a Visiting Foreign Professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He also maintains his clinical affiliation with Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC where he is an Adjunct Assistant Professor. Prior to returning to private practice, Dr. Wells was an Associate Medical Director at Abbott Laboratories where he played a central role in the launch of HUMIRA.

Dr. Wells received his MD from the University of South Florida, Tampa and trained in Internal Medicine and in Rheumatology at Duke University, where he was a faculty member before joining Abbott. He received his PhD in Immunology from the University of South Carolina, where he developed an animal model for Reiter’s Syndrome. He was a recipient of the prestigious Fogarty Biomedical Research Award from the National Institutes of Health, which allowed him to undertake a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at Uppsala University, Sweden, with Dr. Lars Klareskog. Dr. Wells is fluent in Swedish.

A member of the American Telemedicine Association and of the American College of Rheumatology, Dr. Wells has over 25 years of research experience, focusing on chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis, with an emphasis on connective tissue components, inflammatory mediators, and cytokines. He is the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Teaching Award from the Medical College of Wisconsin and Ascension St Joseph Hospital. He is the recipient of the 2003 Abbott President’s Award. In 2001, he was honored with the Merck Young Investigator Award, and in 1999 he received the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award. Dr. Wells is fluent in Swedish and is an internationally renowned speaker and researcher and has had research support from the Arthritis Foundation and from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

E. Aliciee' Griffith, Patient Engagement Liaison, GSK presenting on Sun Safety and UsInLupus

Sponsored by GSK/UsInLupus

E. Aliciee Griffith RN, BSN, BS is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She began her nursing career over 30 years ago as a medical surgical staff nurse. She has worked in many other capacities, most recently in the pharmaceutical industry for 16 years. Whether in a professional or personal situation, she operates within her values and beliefs. She believes each opportunity to teach, listen and exchange knowledge on auto immune diseases is an opportunity to help improve a life or lives.

Aliciee currently resides in her home town of Knoxville, TN and has two sons. She is a member of the American Nurses Association and the Tennessee Nurses Association. She is an active member of her church where she serves on the usher board and teaches Sunday School. During her leisure time she enjoys snow skiing, writing poetry, reading, and cycling.

Jessica B. Michaud, Pharmacist, Medical College of WI having a Q&A Session on Lupus Medications

Jessica B. Michaud, PharmD, BCPS has been a clinical pharmacist in the Rheumatology Clinic at the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin since 2012. She obtained her PharmD at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, then completed a pharmacy practice residency and a specialty residency in primary care pharmacy practice at the University of Cincinnati. Before her current role, she practiced in anticoagulation and anemia at Froedtert, and was a clinical assistant professor and clinical pharmacist at the University of Illinois at Chicago for 7 years, practicing in anticoagulation, primary care, rheumatology, and medication therapy management.