ZULIAN, FRANCESCO

Prof. Francesco Zulian, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Padua where he graduated from Medical School, trained in Pediatrics and specialized in Pediatric (USA 1991) and Adult Rheumatology. Since 1992 he is the Chief of the Pediatric Rheumatology Unit at the University of Padova. From 2001-2009 he acted as Chairman of the Juvenile Scleroderma Working Group of PRES (Pediatric Rheumatology European Society) and, from 2006-2009, of the Italian Society of Pediatric Rheumatology. He has been involved, as organizer and chair, of a number of international meetings, including the first and second International Workshops on Juvenile Scleroderma Syndromes, held in Padua in 2001 and 2004 where the Classification Criteria for Systemic Sclerosis and Localized Scleroderma in childhood were defined. Prof. Zulian’s main research interests are in Scleroderma syndromes, Kawasaki disease, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), Joint Hypermobile Syndromes and JIA- related chronic uveitis. He has around 150 publications in International peer-reviewed Journals (h Index 46) and has acted also as editorial reviewer for many of them. He has been recipient of several International Scientific Awards: - 1999 Pediatric Rheumatology Research Award from the American College of Rheumatology, Boston (USA), for the study on “Efficacy and safety of alendronate for the treatment of osteoporosis in diffuse connective tissue diseases in children” - 2003 “Uveitis Award” from the German Ophthalmology Society (DOG), Berlin (Germany) for the study on “Early predictors of severe course of uveitis in oligoarticular JIA - 2003 from the Pediatric Rheumatology European Society (PRES) for the study on “Triamcinolone Acetonide and Hexacetonide Treatment of Symmetrical Joints in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: a double blind trial” - 2015, the Duncan Gordon Award from the Journal of Rheumatology for the most cited Clinical Article in 2014 entitled “ Safety and Efficacy of Infliximab and Adalimumab for Refractory Uveitis in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: 1-year Followup Data from the Italian Registry”.