Renowned PGIMER expert assumes IRA leadership at IRACON 2025 held in New Delhi.
Chandigarh:
Dr. Aman Sharma, Professor in the Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology division of the Department of Internal Medicine at PGIMER, Chandigarh, has been appointed as the new President of the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRA).
The announcement was made during the valedictory ceremony of the 40th Annual Conference of the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRACON 2025), held at Yashobhoomi, India International Convention & Expo Centre, Dwarka, New Delhi. The four-day conference, from October 9 to 12, brought together around 2,000 rheumatologists, clinical immunologists, researchers, and trainees from India and abroad.
Dr. Sharma has earlier served the IRA as Secretary, Treasurer, and Executive Committee Member. His work focuses on rare rheumatic diseases, systemic vasculitis, and relapsing polychondritis. He is credited with identifying that DADA2, a rare disease, can also occur in adults.
He is the founder of national disease registries such as INVAR (Indian Vasculitis Registry) and IRPR (Indian Relapsing Polychondritis Registry), and has developed diagnostic criteria in complex disease domains, including the Sharma and Pinto criteria for Poncet’s disease.
Since January 2023, Dr. Sharma has been serving as Editor-in-Chief of the Indian Journal of Rheumatology. He also features in Stanford University’s list of the world’s top 2% researchers in his field.
Dr. Sharma has been honored with numerous national and international awards, including the Rabindranath Tagore Oration (2019), CMC Vellore Eminent Mid-Career Rheumatologist Oration (2018), Zydus Oration (2011), and IRA Young Investigator Award (2007), among others.
With over 560 research papers, 70 book chapters, and 10 edited books—including two editions of the Textbook of Systemic Vasculitis—Dr. Sharma has played a pivotal role in advancing rheumatology in India. He was instrumental in establishing the DM program in Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology at PGIMER.
His appointment as IRA President marks a new chapter in the association’s leadership, combining clinical excellence, research innovation, and education to strengthen rheumatology care and awareness nationwide.
