Recognizing Contributions from Influential NIAMS Leadership

Two important leadership changes are on the horizon at NIAMS. Deputy Director Dr. Bob Carter is retiring from federal service at the end of this year and Dr. Susana Serrate-Sztein, the NIAMS Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives, will retire soon after. Exemplary leaders and mentors, both Susana and Bob are dedicated to public service and to NIH’s mission. As the year draws to a close, I want to take this opportunity to share my thoughts about them both and to personally thank them for their years of service and dedication to the NIAMS mission.

Dr. Bob Carter, Deputy Director

When I first came to NIAMS in 2021, Bob was a tremendous support to me, both personally and professionally. With grace and resolve, Bob helped me acclimate to the federal landscape and the tremendous depth and breadth of the NIAMS mission. I have continued to rely on his deep institutional knowledge, wisdom, and thoughtful advice. In the almost four years that we have worked together, Bob has been a tremendously helpful co-leader and friend – truly embodying the meaning of collaboration and leadership.

Bob has ably served NIAMS since 2008, both as deputy director and as acting director when he was called upon to do so. Bob’s influence reaches far. He has helped to design and served as the NIAMS lead on many of the very successful NIH-wide initiatives in which NIAMS participates, including the Accelerating Medicines Partnership? (AMP), which is transforming the current model for developing diagnostics and treatments. In recent years, he has also helped to lead the NIH Back Pain Consortium Research Program and the Restoring Joint Heath and Function to Reduce Pain Consortium, both of which are part of the NIH's Helping to End Addiction Long-term? Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative?.

Bob has also worked closely with the NIH Common Fund and has led the development of the Systems Biology Data Platform Leveraging the Accelerating Medicines Partnership. This new initiative aims to create a centralized portal and tools for researchers to more easily access and use the datasets that were created by NIH institutes and centers through the AMP program. These are just a few examples of Bob’s many contributions across NIH – contributions that will continue to bear fruit thanks to his efforts.

I sat down with Bob recently to talk about his lengthy career and to hear his advice to current and aspiring researchers. I hope you will enjoy a few video highlights of our conversation. (Note: This is a video playlist and multiple videos will play consecutively.)

Dr. Susana Serrate-Sztein, Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives

Susana’s tremendous influence at both NIAMS and the NIH spans many years. During her time at NIAMS, she developed and executed important initiatives to advance our scientific goals and promote a dynamic and robust workforce. These initiatives have transformed how research is conducted and have brought together multidisciplinary teams to move research forward. For instance, Susana led an NIH team that designed and managed the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) which has helped to amplify patient voices in clinical studies around the world. Working with the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health, Susana co-led the design of the Team Science Leadership Scholar’s Program in Women’s Health, an innovative new program which is helping to create a more robust cadre of researchers dedicated to women’s health research.

Susana also had a big hand in fostering collaborative relationships with several pediatric research organizations and successful partnerships with the NIH HEAL Initiative and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Among many other projects, she helped to develop the HEAL KIDS Pain Initiative which supports projects addressing gaps in the understanding, treatment, and prevention of acute and chronic pain in children and adolescents. She, together with Bob, helped to design and stand up the AMP programs and has played a leading role in the development of the AMP Systems Biology of Inflammation program. This program seeks to use AMP datasets to develop a new model for approaching diseases and could help further the development of new treatments and increase our understanding of the contribution of chronic inflammation to disease progression and treatment response.

Susana has also been a leader in helping to develop data science policy and resources, including the Arthritis and Autoimmune and Related Diseases Knowledge (ARK) Portal, which houses datasets generated by research teams focused on arthritis, autoimmune, skin, and related diseases.

I also had the pleasure of sitting down with Susana to talk about her experiences and share her advice to current and aspiring researchers. I hope you will enjoy these videos of our conversation. (Note: This is a video playlist and multiple videos will play consecutively.)

Looking Forward

It’s impossible to replace Bob and Susana. But NIAMS is committed to filling these important roles with highly qualified professionals from diverse backgrounds as rapidly as possible. I want to reiterate my thanks to Bob and Susana for dedicating their careers to improving public health and supporting the team science paradigm that has allowed our researchers to flourish. I know I speak for us all when I say that the NIAMS community is truly grateful for all that they have both done to advance the NIAMS mission, and we look forward to building on the foundation that they have helped establish.

Lindsey A. Criswell, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc.

Director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases