Joachim Sieper, MD, is a Consultant and Head of Rheumatology at the Charité University Hospital, Campus Benjamin Franklin in Berlin, Germany. After receiving his medical degree in 1978 from Free University, in Berlin, Germany, he underwent his training in internal medicine in the Department of Cardiology at the Rudolf-Virchow clinic in Berlin, Germany. He continued his training in internal medicine and rheumatology at the University Hospital Benjamin Franklin, in Berlin, Germany. During this time he had a number of fellowships abroad including 8 weeks at The London Lupus Clinic, Hammersmith Hospital, in London, UK, led by Professor Graham Hughes. He also spent over a year at the Rheumatology Unit of Guy's Hospital, in London, UK, led by Professor G Panayi. In 1998 he became Professor of Medicine at Free University and that same year he was also appointed Deputy Head of the Department of Internal Medicine at the same institution. In 2000 he became Head of Rheumatology at Free University.

Professor Sieper is also a prolific researcher and writer. He has been an investigator since 1989, and a principal investigator since 1993 on several placebo-controlled randomised trials, which have been published internationally. He has authored and contributed to over 300 journal papers.

He is a member of numerous societies including the German Society of Rheumatology and the American College of Rheumatology.

He has also been the recipient of many awards and honours for excellence in rheumatology, including the Carol-Nachman award for rheumatology in 2000 and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) award in 2003.

Jürgen Braun, MD, is Medical Director of the Rheumatology Medical Centre, Ruhrgebiet in Herne, Germany, and is a lecturer at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. He is also an honorary Professor in Rheumatology at the Charité Medical School in Berlin, Germany.

He received his doctor of medicine degree in 1987 at the Free University, Berlin, Germany, and went on to become certified as a specialist in rheumatology, internal medicine, laboratory medicine, physical therapy and sports medicine. In 2000, he became Professor of Rheumatology at the Free University, Berlin. The following year he became Medical Director of the Rheumatology Medical Centre, Ruhrgebiet in Herne, one of the major hospitals in Germany specialised in the management of patients with rheumatic diseases, a position he still holds.

Professor Braun has been an invited speaker at a number of universities and institutions including the National Institutes of Health, the American College of Rheumatology, the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), and the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology. He has also been invited to speak about his research at the national meetings of the British, Irish, Indian, Scandinavian, Danish, Dutch, Belgian, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Turkish, Moroccan, Russian, Chinese, and German Society of Rheumatology. In 2004, he was appointed as the inaugural Robert Inman lecturer at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Professor Braun has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients Association Award in 1996, the Tosse-Research Award in Pediatric Rheumatology in 1998, the Carol Nachman Research Award in 2000, and the EULAR prize in 2003.