Rate My Professor Simon Stebbings

Professor Simon Stebbings holds the position of Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago's Dunedin School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, where he serves as Head of the Rheumatology Research Unit and Consultant Physician in Rheumatology. His qualifications include MB BS, MMedSc, FRCP(Lond), and FRACP. Promoted to Professor in 2021, his career has centered on rheumatology, with a focus on advancing clinical research and patient outcomes in inflammatory arthritides. He maintains strong interdisciplinary collaborations with the Departments of Psychology and School of Physiotherapy, exploring psychosocial aspects of rheumatic conditions.

Professor Stebbings' research specializes in ankylosing spondylitis and spondyloarthritis, investigating genetic backgrounds, fatigue in rheumatic diseases, effectiveness of complementary therapies, effects of smoking on arthritis, and strategies for smoking cessation. He established the multicentre Spondyloarthritis Genetics and the Environment Study (SAGE), incorporating a longitudinal study of outcomes in spondyloarthritis across New Zealand. Internationally, he contributes as a member of the Assessment in Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS), aiding development of the ASAS Health Index, and served on the working group for axial spondyloarthritis management guidelines under the Asia Pacific League Against Rheumatism. Additional expertise encompasses scleroderma, muscle loss in ageing, and disability. Key publications include 'Update of EULAR recommendations for the treatment of systemic sclerosis' (2017, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases); 'Identification of multiple risk variants for ankylosing spondylitis through high-density genotyping of immune-related loci' (2013, Nature Genetics); 'Major histocompatibility complex associations of ankylosing spondylitis are complex and involve further epistasis with ERAP1' (2015, Nature Communications); 'Development of a health index in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (ASAS HI)' (2015, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases); 'The prevalence and clinical features of leflunomide-associated peripheral neuropathy in patients with rheumatic disease' (2024, International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases); and 'Bowel symptoms are common and persistent in axial spondylarthritis' (2025, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases). His work has influenced diagnostic tools, health assessments, and guidelines in spondyloarthritis through international consortia.