ERN RITA is pleased to announce the appointment of two new Stream Leads for the Autoimmune (AI) Stream:
- Professor Onno Teng will lead the AI Vasculitis (Vasc) stream.
- Professor Kumaran Deiva will lead the AI Neurology (Neuro) stream.
They succeed Professor Mark Little, who is stepping down from his position after several years of dedicated service to the network. ERN RITA sincerely thanks Mark Little for his exceptional contributions. His leadership has significantly advanced the mission of ERN RITA and improved care pathways for patients with rare systemic autoimmune diseases across Europe.
With these new appointments, we look forward to continued innovation, deeper collaboration, and strengthened integration of research and care within the AI stream. Below, we introduce our new Stream Leads and share their visions for the future of the AI Vasculitis and Neuro streams.
Meet the newly appointed ERN RITA AI Vasc/Neuro Stream Leads
We’re pleased to introduce Professor Onno Teng and Professor Kumaran Deiva, who will be leading the AI Vasculitis/Neurology stream within ERN RITA. Below, they share their motivations, vision, and hopes for this role.
Onno Teng
1. Tell us about yourself and what motivated you to apply for the ERN RITA AI Vasc/Neuro Stream Lead position?
I am a full professor of Nephrology, focused on renal autoimmune diseases at Leiden University Medical Center, and president of the Dutch national network for systemic autoimmune diseases (ARCH – Autoimmune Research & Collaboration Hub, www.arch.nl). In these roles, I’ve had the honour to work on improving care for patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis and systemic autoimmune diseases in general. I believe this experience, and the successes we’ve achieved in the Netherlands, have convinced both the RITA board—and myself—that I could meaningfully contribute to ERN RITA at the European level.
2. What excites you most about taking on this role within ERN RITA?
I am convinced that real impact happens when networks of expertise collaborate. This is the core mission of RITA. I’m honoured by the opportunity to contribute, and curious to see if we can make international collaboration work for the autoimmune orphan diseases RITA represents—in my case, primarily rare systemic vasculitides.
3. What do you think are the biggest opportunities for ERN RITA in AI Vasc/Neuro, and how can they be leveraged?
One major opportunity lies in a close collaboration with EUVAS, the long-standing European Vasculitis Study Group, which has a remarkable track record in scientific innovation that has truly transformed care for rare vasculitis patients globally. EUVAS is a scientifically driven collaboration, and RITA is a hospital-based network of expert centres focused on improving care. Together, they can elevate the quality of care for the patients we serve.
4. Can you share a personal experience or achievement in AI Vasc/Neuro that has shaped your approach to patient care or treatment?
I have great respect for the federated FAIRVASC registry, developed by my predecessor Mark Little, which connects data from over eight European countries. A recent Lancet Rheumatology publication by this group demonstrated how this registry can help identify good and poor prognostic markers in ANCA-associated vasculitis. These insights have changed how I treat patients and how I personalise their maintenance treatment strategy.
5. What new ideas or projects are you most excited to bring to ERN RITA?
I hope we can integrate the AVAC-EUR study—on avacopan treatment for ANCA-associated vasculitis—as a collaborative effort across ERN RITA centres. I’m also eager for RITA members to collectively address ultrarare vasculitides. We’ve already begun work on a guideline for polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), and plan to write one for cryoglobulinaemia-associated vasculitis as well.
6. What do you think is the biggest strength of ERN RITA, and how will you contribute to it?
Multidisciplinary care. While everyone agrees on its importance in systemic autoimmune diseases, RITA is the only network with a truly multidisciplinary structure—across its board, members, education, and overall focus. ARCH shares this vision, and I’m pleased to continue supporting it within ERN RITA.
Kumaran Deiva
1. Tell us about yourself and what motivated you to apply for the ERN RITA AI Vasc/Neuro Stream Lead position?
I am a paediatric neurologist-immunologist, leading the Paediatric Neurology Department and the National Reference Centre for Rare Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders at Hôpital Bicêtre, Paris-Saclay. Over the past 15 years, I’ve coordinated multidisciplinary clinics and international/European trials on paediatric neuroimmune diseases—MS, MOGAD, CNS vasculitis, neurological manifestations of systemic diseases, and autoimmune encephalitis. These conditions sit at the crossroads of neurology, rheumatology, immunology, and vascular medicine. I’ve worked with ERN RITA since its inception—contributing to the CPMS working group and co-authoring the definitions and classifications of neuroimmune diseases. Establishing a dedicated neuroimmune stream gives us a natural framework to unite currently scattered expertise—imaging, biomarkers, treatments—into a coherent, cross-border care pathway for every child and adult affected by these rare diseases.
2. What excites you most about taking on this role within ERN RITA?
Building a single clinical voice for rare and ultra-rare neuroimmune disorders that currently fall between disciplines.
3. What do you think are the biggest opportunities for ERN RITA in AI Vasc/Neuro, and how can they be leveraged?
Harmonising care bundles—such as acute immunotherapy protocols, steroid-sparing strategies, and infection prophylaxis—and making them easily accessible to the entire clinical community.
4. Can you share a personal experience or achievement in AI Vasc/Neuro that has shaped your approach to patient care or treatment?
Using the Clinical Patient Management System (CPMS) to share real-time expertise and mentor early-career physicians. It’s a powerful tool for ensuring rapid diagnosis and timely, appropriate treatment.
5. What new ideas or projects are you most excited to bring to ERN RITA?
Embedding patient partners in the development of guidelines, so that outcomes that matter to them—like fatigue, cognitive recovery, and reintegration into school—are given the same weight as MRI or CSF results.
