Dr. Murray Baron
Specialty(ies): Rheumatology
Affiliation(s): SMBD, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal – Sir Mortimer - B. Davis, Quebec, Canada. Director of the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group.
Dr. Baron has had an
interest in Scleroderma since he did his training in Rheumatology
over 25 years ago at the University of Toronto. He established the
Scleroderma clinic there and, when he returned to Montreal,
continued to carry on that work. As most of you know, this is not
an easy disease to deal with. There is no cure or good overall way
to control the disease mainly because so little is understood
about its cause. Dr. Baron’s hope was that more meaningful
conclusions from research could be obtained by combining
information from many sites, hence the birth of the Canadian
Scleroderma Research Group (CSRG). By being able to collect both
clinical information and biological samples, like blood, from a
very large group of people, there is a better chance of
discovering what is behind this disease. Thanks to Dr. Baron and
his research team efforts, we now have detailed information in the
computer database on a large number of patients, as well as blood
for further and future research. Patients have already been seen
for their sixth yearly visit and more patients are being
recruited all the time. Joining forces is the key to such an
initiative and Dr. Baron is proud that rheumatologists and
patients have accepted the invitation and are now more than ever
working together across Canada to better understand and better
treat this disease. In his spare time, Dr. Baron loves to spend
time at home with his wife Marion and his two sons. His favourite
hobbies are playing golf, painting and playing the cello for the I
Medici di McGill (Physicians of McGill) orchestra.
Maura Buchignani is Dr. Baron’s research nurse and has been
working alongside Dr. Baron for more than a decade now. Mrs.
Buchignani is a Registered Nurse, having graduated from Vanier
College in 1979.