Queen Square Inaugural Lecture: Professor Pedro Machado

Professor Pedro Machado (Professor of Rheumatology and Neuromuscular Diseases)

"Spine, muscles and quarantine: career chronicles of myositis, spondyloarthritis and COVID"

Professor Machado is a Professor and Consultant in Rheumatology and Neuromuscular Diseases at UCL, UCLH/NHNN and Northwick Park Hospital. He is a principal investigator at the Department of Neuromuscular Diseases (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) and at the UCL Centre for Rheumatology (Division of Medicine), running specialist myopathy (neuromuscular department) and spondyloarthritis (rheumatology department) NHS clinics.

Professor Machado has published over 230 articles and seven book chapters. He has been awarded over £6 million research funding, including four research fellowships, and won 14 scientific prizes, including the prestigious Michael Mason Award of the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR), for excellence in clinical and scientific research.

His research interests include the investigation of new therapeutic strategies and the assessment and prediction of outcomes in rheumatic and neuromuscular diseases, with a focus on muscle diseases and axial spondyloarthritis. More recently he developed an interest in COVID-19, particularly in the outcome of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic and neuromuscular diseases.  

He is the past-chair of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Standing Committee on Epidemiology and Health Services Research (SCEHSR), and a member of the COVID–19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Steering Committee, the EULAR-COVID-19 Registry steering group, the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS) Executive Committee, the British Society of Spondyloarthritis (BRITSpA) Executive Committee, the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR), The American College of Rheumatology (ACR), The Portuguese Society of Rheumatology (SPR), The International Myositis Assessment & Clinical Studies Group (IMACS), The Muscle Study Group (MSG), and The British Myology Society (BMS). He is also past-chair of the Emerging EULAR Network (EMEUNET) and a member of the Editorial Board of the journals RMD Open, Best Practice & Research: Clinical Rheumatology, and ARP Rheumatology.

“I am truly delighted to have had the opportunity to deliver my inaugural lecture. I am immensely grateful to my talented colleagues, dedicated collaborators, inspiring students, and supportive mentors. None of this would have been possible without the unwavering love and encouragement of my wonderful family. As I move forward, I am committed to tirelessly working towards improving the lives of patients with rheumatic and neuromuscular diseases.”