# Paul Emery (rheumatologist)

Paul Emery is a British rheumatologist, researcher, and academic. Emery has been the Versus Arthritis Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Leeds from 1995 to 2017, Head of its Rheumatology Department from 1995 to 2008. He is Head of the Academic Unit of Musculoskeletal Disease and Lead Clinician of Rheumatology at the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, and was the Director of the NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre from 2009 to 2022. He is known for introducing early intervention in inflammatory arthritis. Emery played a critical role in bringing sensitive imaging (MRI) into rheumatology practice. In 2012, Emery was awarded the Carol Nachman Prize for Rheumatology, and as of 2024, he has published over 1660 peer-reviewed articles with over 160,000 citations. Emery was the most cited European/World Rheumatologist in 2010-2020, and was selected in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation's "list of highly influential biomedical researchers, 1996–2020."

## Early life and education

Emery attended Cardiff High School from 1953 to 1971 (Head Boy) and graduated from Churchill College, Cambridge in 1974. He received his clinical training at Guy's Hospital and at Royal Brompton Hospital was accredited in rheumatology and general internal medicine in 1984.

## Career

Emery worked at Guys Hospital from 1977 to 1985 and as House Officer to Senior Registrar and at Royal Brompton Hospital.
In 1985 Emery became Head of Rheumatology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, and a consultant at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
In 1988 Emery became a Senior Lecturer at the University of Birmingham.
Emery has been the Arthritis Research UK Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Leeds since 1995.
Emery was inaugural President of the International extremity MRI society (ISEMIR).
Emery has been a senior investigator at the National Institute for Health and Care Research since 2008.
From 2009 to 2011 Emery was President of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR).
In 2010 he ranked first as the most cited European Rheumatologist with 16,952 citations, according to Lab Times.
In 2013 Boyack et al. published "A list of highly influential biomedical researchers, 1996–2011." in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation. They selected Emery among 532 authors who belonged to the 400 researchers with highest total citation count (25,142 or more citations). As of the time of publishing the list, Emery had 657 papers published with 30,096 citations.
Emery was inaugural chair of FOREUM Executive, the European Foundation for Research in Rheumatology, from 2013 to 2019. Emery is currently a member of the Board of Trustees.
In 2015, Emery was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
In 2017 Emery ranked first as the most cited European Rheumatologist with 20,223 citations, according to Lab Times. Emery was ranked among the world’s top 0.1% of Rheumatoid Arthritis experts by Expertscape in 2020.
Emery was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2018 by the Queen and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours by the King for services to rheumatology.
In 2021 Emery became a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW).