Members of the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) are mourning the loss of one of CARRA’s co-founders who made a tremendous impact on the pediatric rheumatology community.

Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Mellins, who passed away on March 24, 2024, was a co-founder and the first chairperson of CARRA. In addition to helping establish CARRA, she made many significant contributions to CARRA’s design, such as ensuring that translational research would always be valued alongside clinical research. This led to the early creation of CARRA’s Translational Research Committee. Betsy wrote the first grant to the Arthritis Foundation seeking support for CARRA, and her daughter designed the CARRA logo that is still used today.

CARRA is currently working to create a meaningful pathway to honor Betsy’s life and legacy, and we will ensure that the pediatric rheumatology community has an opportunity to be involved in our efforts.

Betsy, who dedicated her life’s work to helping children with pediatric rheumatic diseases and autoimmune diseases, was at the forefront of collaborative research efforts in pediatric rheumatology. Her research, which focused on the role of MHC class II molecules as inherited risk factors for autoimmune disease, helped pave the way for groundbreaking advancements in pediatric rheumatology research.

“In remembering Betsy, we are grateful for her exceptional scientific and academic contributions, as well as her longstanding dedication to CARRA and her incredible commitment to our entire pediatric rheumatology community,” said Robert Colbert, MD, PhD, President of CARRA’s Board of Directors. “Her legacy lives on in CARRA and in our community in so many ways.”

Betsy, who graduated from Cornell University and earned her MD from Harvard Medical School, trained in pediatrics at the University of Colorado and in pediatric rheumatology at University of Washington. She had her first independent lab at the University of Pennsylvania before moving in 1996 to Stanford University, where she was as a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Divisions of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Human Gene Therapy. She also served as a member of the Cellular and Molecular Immunology NIH study section for nine years and was a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists. Betsy was a longtime member of the Arthritis National Research Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board.

In addition to her academic and research accomplishments, Betsy leaves a tremendous legacy in the pediatric rheumatology community as tireless collaborator, mentor, and advocate for pediatric rheumatologists and trainees.

“Betsy was not only an extremely talented physician and researcher, but also an incredibly dedicated, generous, and compassionate person,” said her longtime friend and colleague, Christy I. Sandborg, MD, a Professor Emerita of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine and a co-founder of CARRA. “She will be sorely missed and lovingly remembered.”

Betsy was known for sharing her expertise as a mentor to countless trainees and nurturing generations of researchers and physicians. In a recent CARRA board meeting, Robert Fuhlbrigge, MD, PhD, of Children’s Hospital Colorado shared how Betsy went out of her way to mentor and encourage his daughter when she was working in a research lab at Stanford and preparing for medical school.

Fuhlbrigge was collaborating with Betsy recently on the Textbook of Pediatric Rheumatology. As an editor of this textbook, she worked on editing and rewriting a chapter on the last day of her life.

Betsy also made an impact on many families in the pediatric rheumatology community, said Vincent Del Gaizo, the Director of Partnerships & Patient Engagement at CARRA who met Betsy when he began volunteering with CARRA in 2002.

“Her passion for pediatric rheumatology and her relentless pursuit of answers to our questions inspired me to do whatever I could to help,” Del Gaizo said. “She always made me comfortable and empowered me to collaborate in research even though I am not a healthcare professional. Year after year, I would attend the annual CARRA meeting and be greeted by Betsy’s warm hug and beaming smile.”

Betsy will be missed by so many and lovingly remembered for the profound impact she made on the entire pediatric rheumatology community.