Zahi Touma

Research Synopsis

Dr. Touma is a Rheumatologist and Clinical Epidemiologist whose research is focused on patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and measurement science with a particular interest in the assessment of disease activity, patient reported outcomes and cognitive function. 

He is the director of the Toronto Lupus Program and Associate Professor of medicine in the department of medicine, division of rheumatology. He is the co-instructor of the measurement in clinical research course at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the University of Toronto. 

Dr. Touma has developed SLE disease activity indices: the SLEDAI Responder Index-50 and the SLEDAI-2K Glucocorticoids Index. He has established the NeuroLupus Program which is a team of experts in psychometrics, neuropsychology, neurology, psychiatry, measurement and bioinformatics with the goal of developing improved methods of identifying cognitive impairment in SLE and understanding its course over time and impact on health-related quality of life and productivity. 

Dr. Touma is the co-chair of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria subcommittee. He leads the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) SLE Working Group to update the core outcome set for SLE clinical trials. Dr. Touma’s work has been supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Arthritis Society of Canada, Lupus Canada, Physician Services Incorporated and Lupus Research Alliance. He is the recipient of an Early Researcher Award from the Government of Ontario.