Charles L Christian: Model Physician Scientist and Mentor

Dr Charles L Christian arrived in New York City in 1953, having grown up in Wichita, Kansas, and graduating from medical school at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio. In New York, Dr Christian embarked on training in internal medicine at Columbia's Presbyterian Hospital where he met an individual who would shape the course of his career, Dr Charles Ragan, a founder of the Arthritis Foundation. Dr Christian, or Chuck as he was usually called, went on to shape the developing field of rheumatology, advancing understanding of our most complex diseases as an investigator, master clinician, mentor, and academic leader. During an era when the cellular and humoral features of the immune system were just coming into focus, Chuck performed laboratory experiments with precision and creativity to achieve new understanding of 3 significant diseases: rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and vasculitis. Review of his publications from the 1950s and 1960s provides a window into a time when figures were hand drawn and papers often had a single author. While the tools of technology that we rely on today were not available to Chuck, his insights have had a sustained impact on how we understand and treat autoimmune rheumatic diseases. His talents and his dedication to patients, colleagues, science, and medicine supported a lifetime of remarkable contributions.