Stephen A. Paget, MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Paget was a Rheumatology Fellow and has been a member of the staff of Hospital For Special Surgery since 1975. Dr. Paget was the Physician-in-Chief and Chairman of the Division of Rheumatology at Hospital For Special Surgery and the Joseph P. Routh Professor of Medicine and Rheumatic Disease at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the New York Presbyterian Hospital for fifteen years and is now the Physician-in-Chief Emeritus. As Chair, he developed and ran a world-class rheumatology division of 46 physicians, scientists and clinician-scholar educators who were focused on clinical, perioperative and consultative care throughout HSS and the York Avenue institutions, basic, translational and clinical and drug trials research and musculoskeletal education to medical students, residents and fellows.

During his time at the NIH and upon arriving at HSS in 1975, his basic immunologic research focused on defining the immunopathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. As an Associate Director of an NIH-funded Cornell Multipurpose Arthritis Center, he focused his clinical and translational research on the areas of steroid-induced osteoporosis, systemic vasculitides such as Giant Cell Arteritis, rheumatoid arthritis, joint replacements and hip fractures. Most recently, Dr. Paget was a director of the Mary Kirkland Center for Lupus Research at HSS and on the Board of Directors of the Lupus Clinical Trials Consortium and his investigation was directed at attaining a broader understanding of premature atherosclerosis in autoimmune disorders.

He was a Member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the Co-Chair of the rheumatology subspecialty Board. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Research and Education Foundation of the American College of Rheumatology and the Chair of its Development Advisory Council. He was recently honored by receiving the American College of Rheumatology’s Master designation and Distinguished Clinical Scholar award. He was a longstanding member of the Board of Trustees of the New York Arthritis Foundation and The Burke Rehabilitation Hospital.

Dr. Paget received his MD degree from Downstate Medical Center, did his residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins and was a Clinical Associate at the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin diseases. 

Dr. Paget has both national and international recognition as a Master Clinician in a broad range of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders and teaches a weekly course How to Think like a Rheumatologist. As a Clinician-Scholar Educator he has had a significant impact upon rheumatology education and is currently the Director of the HSS Rheumatology Academy of Medical Educators established in 2011. A recent article in the prestigious journal Academic Medicine entitled The Value of Supporting Education Research in the Academic Environment: The Hospital For Special Surgery Academy of Rheumatology Medical Educators (96:1010-1012, 2021) highlighted the 32 medical education grants awarded totaling nearly $1M. Recipients have produced national meeting abstracts, posters, oral presentations and manuscripts and created unique curricula and electronic learning tools for medical students, residents, fellows, faculty and patients. 

Departments

Special Expertise

Autoimmune disorders:
Rheumatoid arthritis
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Antiphospholipid syndrome
Scleroderma
Sjogren's syndrome
Dermatomyositis/polymyositis
Mixed Connective Tissue disease
Adult-onset Still's disease

Vasculitides:
Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's Granulomatosis)
Churg Strauss Vasculitis
Giant Cell Arteritis/Polymyalgia Rheumatica
Takayasu's arteritis
Polychondritis

Spondyloarthritis:
Psoriatic arthritis
Ankylosing spondylitis
Arthritis associated with Crohn's disease and Ulcerative colitis
Reactive Arthritis/Reiter's syndrome

Osteoarthritis, general and spine
Gout
Pseudogout
Sarcoidosis
Tendinitis/Bursitis