Learn more about Monash Health’s Rheumatology team.
A/Prof Joanne Sahhar
MBBS (Hons) FRACP
Joanne Sahhar is the Head of Monash Scleroderma Clinic in the Department of Rheumatology at Monash Health and Associate Professor in the school of clinical sciences at Monash University. She attends the weekly Scleroderma clinic which oversees the care of and screening for cardiopulmonary disease of approximately 400 patients with Scleroderma.
Jo graduated in medicine with honours from Monash University in 1991 and completed Rheumatology training at Monash Health and St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. She established the first Australian Scleroderma database at Monash and St Vincent’s hospitals in 1999 and subsequently cofounded the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study (ASCS) as principal investigator at Monash in 2007 for the Australian scleroderma Interest Group (ASIG). The ASCS is an Australia wide web-based longitudinal database of patients with Systemic sclerosis with annual collection of clinical data, biospecimens and radiology facilitating multiple collaborative clinical and basic science research projects with local and international colleagues and more than 100 publications in peer reviewed journals. Jo has a particular interest in Interstitial lung disease in Scleroderma and chairs the committee for Autologous stem cell transplant in Scleroderma.
Jo supervises and mentors PhD students, advanced trainees and BMedSci students in rheumatology, oversees clinical, trials, serves on advisory boards for novel therapies in Scleroderma and provides support to Scleroderma Foundation of Victoria.