The research of C. Kent Kwoh, MD, has been funded by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)—an institute of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Arthritis Foundation and other organizations. Director of the UA Arthritis Center and chief of the Division of Rheumatology, he is a co-holder of three patents for a method using thermal, laser and other state-of-the-art imaging to assess the extent of arthritis in joints.
His major research interests are in outcome assessment and the examination of risk factors for the development and progression of a broad spectrum of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. His current work focuses on the identification of biomarkers – most notably MRI imaging biomarkers for the development and/or progression of knee osteoarthritis and the characterization of knee pain patterns in osteoarthritis. He also has a major interest in the reduction and ultimately the elimination of disparities in the management of arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases.
Dr. Kwoh has mentored more than 30 trainees and junior faculty in the areas of epidemiology and health services research related to rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.
Dr. Kwoh’s professional memberships include the Arthritis Foundation, where he serves on the Public Health Committee, and the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI), where he serves as a member of the OARSI Treatment Guidelines Committee. He was a member of the OARSI Publications Committee and the Steering Committee for the OARSI-FDA initiative for the revision of the guidance document for osteoarthritis. He is a founding fellow of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and has served on the board of directors for the ACR and the Rheumatology Research Foundation.
He was a member of the National Arthritis Data Workgroup sponsored by NIAMS, co-chair of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Working Group of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), which developed quality measures for rheumatoid arthritis, and co-chair of the ACR Guideline Development Subcommittee for Guidelines on the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Currently, he serves on a Data and Safety Monitoring Board for the NIAMS and the Rheumatology Field Advisory Committee for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
He also is a member of the ISIS Fund Network of the Society for Women’s Health Research and has been a grant reviewer for the National Health Research Institute, Taiwan; the Arthritis Society of Canada; the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Among recent articles Dr. Kwoh has participated in as an author are:
- “Improvement following total knee replacement surgery: Exploring preoperative symptoms and change in preoperative symptoms,” Arthritis & Rheumatism, April 2016
- “Semi-Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers of Knee Osteoarthritis Progression: Data from the FNIH OA Biomarkers Consortium,” Arthritis & Rheumatology, April 2016
- “Determinants of patient preferences for total knee replacement: African-Americans and whites,” Arthritis Research & Therapy, December 2015
- “Musculoskeletal Imaging: High-Resolution Ultrasonography (US) of Rheumatologic Diseases,” RadioGraphics, November-December 2015