David T. Felson, MD

Dr. David T. Felson is a Professor of Medicine and Public Health and Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Boston University Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center. He directs a research group of approximately 10 doctoral and master’s level researchers with expertise in epidemiology and biostatistics.

Dr. Felson's has written extensively on the epidemiology of osteoarthritis and on the measurement of outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis. Among his group's major scientific contributions are the development of the core set of measures for RA trials and the creation of the ACR20 (and the recent ACRHybrid). Among their findings in osteoarthritis, include the following:

• Obesity is a major cause of knee osteoarthritis, and weight loss can lessen risk.
• Bone marrow lesions on MRI both correlate with pain, are major risk factors for disease progression and often reflect varus or valgus malalignment.
• MRI features associated with pain in knee OA include not just bone marrow lesions but also synovitis and effusion.
• Deficiencies in vitamins C, D and K may increase the risk of OA.
• The genetics of osteoarthritis follow a joint-specific pattern and  inheritance of a generalized phenotype is uncommon.
• Buckling and instability are common symptoms in persons with knee pain.
• OA is the most common cause of mobility disability in elders.
• The efficacy of hyaluronic acid and glucosamine has been overestimated probably because of industry bias in publication and reporting of trial results.
• Hip osteoarthritis is rare in China but knee osteoarthritis there is more common than in the United States, even though Chinese are thinner.

Dr. Felson was the first non-bench science recipient of the ACR Kunkel young scientist award, was the first recipient of the ACR's Clinical Research Award and has received the Arthritis Foundation's Howley Prize for major contributions to rheumatology research.