Professor Eric Morand is Head of the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University's largest clinical school, and Head of the Monash Health Rheumatology Unit in Melbourne, Australia. He trained in Australia and at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath, UK, before completing his PhD in neuroendocrine immunology. He leads inflammatory rheumatology research at Monash and specialises in clinical care of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), complex rheumatic diseases and rheumatoid arthritis.
His key interests are clinical outcome measurement and biological profiling in SLE, and the actions of glucocorticoid-induced proteins on the immune system. He is founder of the Monash Lupus Clinic, Australia’s largest Lupus-focussed research-grounded clinic for patients with SLE, a founding member of the Australian Lupus Registry & Biobank, and Chair of the Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration. His group has pioneered the development and validation of treat-to-target outcome measures in SLE, via the Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration, which has over 3,000 patients under study. Biomarker studies in SLE are also a major interest, with thousands of samples linked to longitudinal clinical data archived in the Australian Lupus Registry & Biobank, headquartered at Monash. His lab group discovered the role in rheumatic disease of four glucocorticoid-regulated proteins. Most recently his group defined the role of GILZ in RA, Th17 pathways, B cell activation, and lupus, and are working on exploiting its actions to develop a safe glucocorticoid mimic. He has published over 220 peer reviewed papers, reviews, book chapters and patents,
In 2015, Eric was recognised with the award of the Lupus Research Alliance US$ 1 million William E Paul Distinguished Innovator Award. When not working he enjoys reading, running, cycling, wine and playing saxophone, drums, and percussion (though never at the same time).