I am a physician-scientist with a research focus in systemic autoimmune disease, particularly systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus). I am currently a Consultant Rheumatologist at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and Associate Professor (Medicine) at the University of Melbourne.
I have extensive training and experience in clinical and epidemiological study design (including cohort studies and clinical trials) and statistical analysis. My methodological expertise lies in clinical measurement including the development of tools for screening, prediction and outcome assessment. I have excelled at every stage of my career and at my most recent Performance Framework Development meeting with the Head of my department, my performance was rated ‘outstanding’. I held an NHMRC Clinical Early Career Fellowship from 2014-2016 and was recently awarded a highly competitive (13% success rate among all medical disciplines in Australia) and prestigious NHMRC Clinical Career Development Fellowship (Level 1), commencing 2017 (ending 2020).
In addition to leading my own research group comprised of two project coordinators, a research biostatistician and numerous higher degree candidates, I lead a world-first multi-centre clinical trial funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) project grant to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anticoagulation in scleroderma pulmonary arterial hypertension. I am also a Chief Investigator on an NHMRC funded project grant to quantify maximum patient and physician acceptable risk in arthroplasty. In 2018, I was appointed Executive Chair of the Australian Scleroderma Interest Group (ASIG), the major body for scleroderma care and research in Australia, comprising 13 Australian sites. I served as the Chair of the Scientific Committee of ASIG from 2016 to 2017. I, and my team were recently awarded the highly prestigious triennial Australian Rheumatology Association (ARA) Collaborative Research Prize 2018. The work of my team has also attracted support from philanthropic donations and funds raised by Scleroderma Australia, the peak consumer support and advocacy group for scleroderma in Australia.
My research collaborations span multiple disciplines and multiple sites in Australia and across the world, including Canada, USA, Europe (Spain and The Netherlands) and 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific. I am internationally regarded as a leading clinician-researcher in my field, as manifested by over 60 invited speaker/session chair engagements at national and international conferences since 2010, and my role as Chair of the Damage Index, Activity Index and Cardiac Working Groups of the International Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium (SCTC), the leading international body for collaborative research in scleroderma. I am a founding member of the International Scleroderma Inception Cohort (INSYNC) collaboration, a group of investigators from 7 countries enrolling patients into the world’s largest cohort of scleroderma patients recruited from disease onset. I am a co-founder and member of the executive steering committees of the Asia-Pacific Lupus Collaboration (11 countries in the region) and the SLE Special Interest Group (SLE-SIG), which undertake research studies on one of the largest multi-centre lupus cohorts worldwide. My leadership of these groups has led to the development of much needed outcome measures for use in clinical trials and cohort studies. I also serve as peer reviewer for over 20 journals in rheumatology and general medicine, on Grant Review Panels of NHMRC and Arthritis Australia, and the Advisory Board of several pharmaceutical companies that are developing novel therapies in lupus, scleroderma, rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, and played a key role in the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) listing of belimumab.
Find out more about Mandana Nikpour's experience
Mandana Nikpour's highlights
FEATURED Journal article
Laboratory investigation results influence Physician's Global Assessment (PGA) of disease activity in SLE.
Read moreMandana Nikpour's selected work
Projects
Displaying the 8 most recent projects by Mandana Nikpour.
Project Types
7
Research Grant
1
Internal Research Grant
Scholarly Works
Displaying the 173 most recent scholarly works by Mandana Nikpour.
Keyword Analysis
Honours, Awards and Fellowships
President’s Collaborative Research Prize awarded to the Australian Scleroderma Interest Group (ASIG)
Abstract prize
Top student in Advanced Biostatistics PhD course work
Henry A Beatty Scholarship
Canadian Rheumatology Association Award for best original research presented at general meeting
Ian Watson Prize for best original research in lupus presented at Canadian Rheumatology Association Annual Scientific Meeting
Travel Bursary
Scholarship to attend the European Society for Immunodeficiencies Summer School in Portugal
John Cade Memorial Medal in Psychiatry
Jamieson Prize in Clinical Medicine
Community Medicine Prize
Dean’s Honors List of top students in Medical (MBBS) degree
Community Medicine Prize
First Class Honors in Introductory Economics
FRCPA - Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, Australia
FRACP - Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Credentials
Positions
Principal Research Fellow
Medicine - St Vincent'S Hospital
Australian Representative
Asia-Pacific Rheumatology Association (APLAR) Scleroderma and Myositis special interest group
International Fellow Of The Peak International Body For Rheumatologists
American College of Rheumatology
Member
Pulmonary Hypertension Society of Australia & New Zealand (PHSANZ)
Clinical Science Program Lead And Convener
Organising committee for the Lupus World Congress, Melbourne 2017
Member Executive And Scientific Steering Committees
Australian Lupus Registry and Biobank (ALRB) and the SLE Special Interest Group (SLE-SIG)
Member
Australia & New Zealand Musculoskeletal Clinical Trials Network (ANZMUSC)
Founding Member And Australian Representative
International Scleroderma Inception Cohort (INSYNC) study
Co-Founder And Member Of The Executive Steering Committee
Asia-Pacific Lupus Collaboration (APLC)
Chair, Executive Committee Since 2018 And Chair, Scientific Committee 2016-2017
Australian Scleroderma Interest Group (ASIG)
Co-Chair Of Damage And Activity Index Working Group Since 2013 And Co-Chair Of Cardiac Working Group Since 2017
Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium (SCTC)
Invited Member (One Of Eight) Of Research And Scientific Advisory Committee Since 2017
Australian Rheumatology Association (ARA)
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
University of Toronto
Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery
University of Melbourne