Dr. Sindhu Johnson

Dr. Johnson is a rheumatologist, Director of the Toronto Scleroderma Program, a Clinician-Scientist, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She an internationally regarded Rheumatologist and Clinical Epidemiologist. Her program of research develops methodologic platforms that combine data-driven and expert-based methods with advanced analytic techniques to define disease states, develop outcome measures, develop guidelines, and study treatment effects. This methodologic work was initially developed using the model of scleroderma and has expanded across rheumatic diseases.

Her scleroderma research focuses on improving the lives of people with scleroderma with the goal of finding a cure. Rheumatologists and graduate student from around the world train with her, completing a fellowship or graduate degree (MSc or PhD). She has authored ‘Management of Scleroderma with Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs’ for the European League Against Rheumatism School of Rheumatology, which is taken by 2000 students globally/year.

Internationally, Dr. Johnson has led collaborations between the American College of Rheumatology and the European League Against Rheumatism for the development of classification criteria for systemic sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus, respectively. She is an investigator in clinical trials evaluating novel treatments for scleroderma, including the first 2 United States Food and Drug Administration approved treatments for scleroderma. Most recently, Dr. Johnson served the American College of Rheumatology COVID-19 Clinical Guidance Task Force, and American College of Rheumatology COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force. She is currently a principal investigator for the American College of Rheumatology guidelines of the screening, monitoring and treatment of interstitial lung disease in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases. With over 200 scientific publications, her work has been published in Nature Review Rheumatology, the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, The Lancet Rheumatology and Arthritis & Rheumatology.