Hani El-Gabalawy, MD, FRCPC, FCAHS

Dr. Hani El-Gabalawy is a physician and researcher, currently holding positions as a professor of medicine and immunology, and an endowed Rheumatology Research Chair at the University of Manitoba. He is widely recognized for his contributions in the field of rheumatology and immunology, with a specific focus on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Indigenous health.

Dr. El-Gabalawy completed his medical studies at the University of Calgary, where he earned his MD and Bachelor of Science degrees. He then completed his internal medicine training and rheumatology fellowship at McGill University. He later became a visiting scientist at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1997 to 2000, before returning to UM in 2000.

From 2013 until 2017, Dr El-Gabalawy served as the Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) where he founded a number of important initiatives including the establishment and funding of a Canada/Netherlands network for childhood arthritis research (UCAN-CANDU). He now serves as the Chair of the integrated Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee (iSMAC) for the Arthritis Society Canada. 

Throughout his career, Dr. El-Gabalawy has focused his research on understanding the mechanisms that initiate and sustain RA. He has been instrumental in documenting the histopathology and immunohistology of rheumatoid synovitis, and in analyzing the role of hypoxia in activating synovial fibroblasts and mediating processes that sustain chronic synovitis. Dr. El-Gabalawy's extensive work in this area culminated in him authoring the definitive chapter on the topic in a top rheumatology textbook.

Currently, Dr. El-Gabalawy's research program focuses on autoimmune mechanisms preceding the onset of RA, and how they can be modulated to reduce the risk of disease development and progression. He has been leading a longitudinal cohort study of at-risk relatives of First Nations RA patients in Central Canada since 2004, which has received uninterrupted funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for the past 15 years. His collaborations on this project have spanned several academic centers across Canada, the US, and particularly at Leiden University in The Netherlands. Dr. El-Gabalawy and his team are investigating the effects of immunomodulatory nutritional supplements in preventing the progression of RA autoimmunity.

Dr. El-Gabalawy has been recognized with numerous awards for his contributions to rheumatology and Indigenous health, including the Canadian Rheumatology Association Masters Award, the Master of the American College of Rheumatology, and the Canadian Rheumatology Association Distinguished Investigator Award. He has also been awarded a fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Dr. El-Gabalawy's dedication to the field of rheumatology and Indigenous health has made him a highly respected and sought-after expert in his field.

In 2024, Dr El-Gabalawy has the honour of presenting the annual “Dunlop-Dottridge Lecture”, which is the premier state of the art lecture for the Canadian Rheumatology Association Annual Scientific Meeting.

Education

Bachelor of Science, University of Calgary (1974)

Doctor of Medicine (MD), University of Calgary (1977)

Fellow of The Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC), Internal Medicine (1983)

Fellow of The Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC), Rheumatology (1984)

Specialty Certificate Province of Quebec: Rheumatology (1984)

American Board of Internal Medicine: Rheumatology (1984)

Select awards

Outstanding Reviewer, Peer Review - Fall 2019 Project Grant Competition, Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the College of Reviewers (2020)

Canadian Rheumatology Association (Inaugural) Masters Award, Victoria, B.C. (2020)

Master of the American College of Rheumatology, Atlanta, Georgia (2019)

Canadian Rheumatology Association Distinguished Investigator Award, Quebec City (2015)

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Ottawa (2013)

Fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), Ottawa (2010)

Endowed Rheumatology Research Chair (2003 to present)