Joost Swart is a board certified paediatrician immunologist & rheumatologist. After receiving his Medical Degree (cum laude/ with Honour) from the University of Groningen in 1999, he finished his training as a paediatrician at the VU Medical Center in Amsterdam in 2006. His fellowship paediatric rheumatology-immunology was completed in 2008 in Utrecht. He worked as a paediatric rheumatologist for 3 years in both Reade and the VUmc in Amsterdam. In 2011 he came to work in the largest Dutch group of Pediatric Rheumatology / Immunology based in Utrecht. He is currently doing a Master in Epidemiology at Utrecht University.

His research (and that of his PhD-students) focuses on comparative effectiveness and safety of drugs, treatment-strategies and eHealth in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). He also analysed the effects of mesenchymal stem cells in JIA-patients. Furthermore he is researcher and member of the Steering Committee of the international Pharmacovigilance database Pharmachild (over 9000 JIA-patients who have contributed their clinical data and thousands of blood and synovial samples) and is co-P.I. of the UCAN CAN-DU project (JIA project involving all academic paediatric rheumatology centers in the Netherlands and Canada). https://www.ucancandu.com/

He is (co-)author on more than 60 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, mostly related to JIA. He is (co-)applicant on multiple successful research grants (e.g. UCAN CAN-DU. Real-life integration of innovative precision medicine strategies into care provision will forever transform the care of children with arthritis in our countries and beyond. Canadian Institutes of Health Research/ The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development [ZonMw]/ Dutch Arthritis Foundation funded  €5,500,000).

He is council member of the Dutch Association for Paediatric Rheumatology, council member of the Pediatric Rheumatology International Trial Organization and chair of the Pharmacovigilance and Targeted Therapies Working Party of ERN-RITA. He is member of the Dutch Pediatric Association, Dutch Rheumatology Association, Paediatric Rheumatology European Society, and the Dutch Association against Quackery.

He educates students in both the CRU and Summa medical curricula in Utrecht. He trains interns, residents and fellows in paediatrics and rheumatology in UMC Utrecht. He is a certified instructor on the APLS-course from the Advance Life Support Group.

-Chair of Pharmacovigilance Working Party, European Reference Network, Rare Immunodeficiencies, AutoImmune and AutoInflammatory Diseases (ERN RITA)

-Co-chair of Clinical Guidelines Working Party, ERN RITA

-Council Member for the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO)

Board member of the Dutch Pediatric Rheumatology Association

-National coordinator Pediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organization (Printo)

-Member of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Working Party with Healthcare Professionals on behalf of European League against Rheumatism (EULAR)

-Member of JIA Working Group of Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT)

-Member of the SHARE initiative European consensus-based recommendations for

the diagnosis and treatment of JIA

-Member of Digital Health Working Party of Dutch Rheumatology Association (NVR)

-Member of Steering Committee of UCAN CAN-DU

-Member of Steering Committee of PharmaChild

-Member of Data Safety Monitoring Board STARS Trial (PRINTO study with PI: Dr Consolaro)

-Member of Digital Health Working Party of Dutch Rheumatology Association (NVR)

-Utrecht representative of Dutch Paediatric Clinical Trial Network (Pedmed-NL) 

2015                            “The Addition of one or more Biologics to Methotrexate in Children with JIA increases the Incidence of

                                   Infections and Serious Adverse Events. The 5882 Pharmachild Cohort.” Selected as Top 6 of Clinical

                                   Science Abstracts chosen from 4323 Abstracts EULAR Congress Rome

2010                            “Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy has significant Clinical and Histopathological Effect in Proteoglycan

                                    Induced Arthritis” Selected as Top 25 of Basic Science Abstracts chosen from 3,508 Abstracts EULAR

                                    Congress Rome

2009                            Teaching Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, Dep. of Paediatrics, VUmc Amsterdam

2002                            Resident Teaching Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, Dep. of Paediatrics,

                                    Deventer Hospitals, NL