Fracture Liaison Services: What’s the evidence? Can we innovate?

Dr. Saag is the Anna Lois Waters Endowed Chair and Director of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology and the Comprehensive Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, Bone, and Autoimmunity Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He received his undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from the University of Michigan and his MD from Northwestern University. He joined the faculty at Iowa as an Assistant Professor until moving to UAB in1998. Dr. Saag’s continuously funded research has advanced the fields of novel therapeutics and outcomes research in osteoporosis and gout. He has authored more than 430 peer-reviewed manuscripts, including 3 first-author New England Journal of Medicine articles. He has also authored more than 100 reviews, editorials, and book chapters, and the handbook Diagnosis and Management of Osteoporosis. He has served on the editorial boards of many medical journals and is currently Deputy Editor of Arthritis and Rheumatology. Dr. Saag was the 85th ACR President in 2021–2022. 

Dr. Danila is the UAB Endowed Professor in Musculoskeletal Outcomes Research in the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, where she serves as Director of Patient Oriented Research. She also holds an appointment as a Physician Scientist in the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the Birmingham VA Medical Center. Dr. Danila received her MD degree from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy. She is a rheumatologist and implementation science researcher focused on improving the quality of medical care. Her research program focuses on i) the design and evaluation of multi-modal interventions to improve outcomes for patients with osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout; ii) re-designing healthcare services and leveraging new technologies (e.g., telehealth, infrared thermography, artificial intelligence) in clinical practice to increase effectiveness of care delivery. Dr. Danila has been leading research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Patient Centered Outcomes Institute, and the Rheumatology Research Foundation. She has served on Editorial Board for multiple rheumatology journals and currently serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology.