Profile of:

Patricia Remalante-Rayco

Patricia Remalante-Rayco is a rheumatologist, clinical epidemiologist, and PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. She is also a Spondylitis Clinical Research Fellow at the Schroeder Arthritis Institute, University Health Network, where she is involved in the clinical care of patients with axial spondyloarthritis and in clinical and translational SpA research. She completed her rheumatology fellowship at the University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital and subsequently obtained a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of the Philippines. Before moving to Canada, she served as an Associate Professor of Medicine and Rheumatology and was Research Lead of the Spondyloarthritis Special Interest Group of the Philippine Rheumatology Association. She currently serves on the Research Committee of the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN). Her research focuses on understanding disease heterogeneity and treatment response in axial spondyloarthritis. Her clinical research has examined difficult-to-manage and treatment-refractory axSpA, sex and disease-subtype differences in biologic treatment discontinuation, inflammatory bowel disease and disease progression, and demyelinating disease in SpA. Her work has been published in journals including the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis and Rheumatology, and Rheumatology (Oxford). Building on her training in clinical epidemiology, her PhD research investigates immune mechanisms underlying treatment response in SpA. Her long-term research goal is to integrate clinical epidemiology with translational immunology to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets that enable more personalized treatment for patients with axSpA. Her academic and research training has been supported by competitive awards from SPARTAN, the Schroeder Arthritis Institute, and the University of Toronto.