Message from the Chief

Welcome to the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology. We strive to provide outstanding care for patients with immune-mediated and rheumatic disease, including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematodes, poly- and dermatomyositis, vasculitis and osteoarthritis. We bring the benefit of pioneering research to our patients and educate the next generation of specialists in the diagnosis, treatment and exploration of autoimmune disease.  Following a long and illustrious tradition, faculty members of the Division seek to discover the abnormalities in the immune system that lead to rheumatic disease and expand the fundamental understanding of how a healthy immune system functions over the span of a life time.  

Fourteen full-time faculty and affiliated faculty care for patients at three clinical sites. At Stanford Hospital and Clinics, we evaluate in-patients with complex autoimmune syndromes and in multiple out-patient clinics we diagnose and treat patients with a wide variety of joint, muscle and blood vessel disease. Our expertise supports the care of patients at the Palo Alto VA and at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Embedded into the Stanford community of investigators our research programs span from immunology and genetics to empowering our patients through education.

The Division of Immunology and Rheumatology has a long-standing legacy in the study and treatment of immune-mediated and rheumatic diseases and has been at the forefront of integrating disease-related research into clinical practice. Enabled by Stanford’s strengths in immunology, genetics and clinical population sciences the Division has assembled a collaborative group of physicians (clinicians) and investigators who collectively provide expertise in clinical, translational and basic research and who employ molecular biology, genomics, epigenetics, high throughput sequencing, biomarker identification and clinical trials to gain a better understanding of how protective immunity turns into damaging immunity.  

The Division is committed to recruiting and mentoring the next generation of clinical and translational investigators in the rheumatic diseases. Research teams focus on the basic mechanisms of autoimmunity and inflammation, health sciences research and clinical trials provide an integrated training environment for future leaders in clinical immunology and rheumatology. Access to Stanford’s core facilities enables studies of unparalleled scale and complexity to move the field of rheumatology forward and to combine resources with Stanford and the Department of Medicine to become one of the national leaders in health care.

We invite you to learn more about our division through our website.

Cornelia Weyand, MD
Professor of Medicine: Immunology and Rheumatology Division Chief