The North News
Chandigarh, October 13
Dr Aman Sharma, Professor in the Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology division at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, has been formally installed as President of the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRA). The announcement was made during the valedictory ceremony of the 40th Annual Conference of the association (IRACON 2025), held at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi. The four-day event, from October 9 to October 12, brought together more than 2,000 rheumatologists, clinical immunologists, researchers, and healthcare professionals from India and abroad.
Dr Sharma has previously served the IRA as secretary, treasurer, and executive committee member. Known for his work on rare rheumatic diseases, systemic vasculitis and relapsing polychondritis, he has been instrumental in recognising that the rare disease DADA2 can also occur in adults. He founded major national registries such as INVAR (Indian Vasculitis Registry) and IRPR (Indian Relapsing Polychondritis Registry).
He has developed disease classification and diagnostic criteria, including the Sharma and Pinto criteria for Poncet’s disease, and has been Editor-in-Chief of the Indian Journal of Rheumatology since January 2023.
Dr Sharma has received multiple honours, including the Rabindranath Tagore Oration (2019), VR Joshi JAPI Award (2018) and the IRA Young Investigator Award (2007). He has over 560 research papers, 70 book chapters, and has edited 10 books. He also contributed to the establishment of the DM programme in Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology at PGIMER.
