Maria Dall’Era is the Jean S. Engleman Distinguished Professor and Chief of the Division of Rheumatology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She is the Director of the UCSF Lupus Program and the Rheumatology Clinical Research Center. She serves as the Chair of the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN).

Professor Dall'Era earned her medical degree at UCSF, where she also completed her internal medicine residency, serving as Chief Resident, and a fellowship in rheumatology. She is a practicing rheumatologist and clinical researcher who leads an integrated research programme focused on three closely related goals: (i) improving our understanding of the molecular and epidemiologic basis for SLE, (ii) developing novel approaches to the treatment of SLE and lupus nephritis, and (iii) finding biomarkers that predict treatment response and long-term outcome in patients with lupus nephritis. She is currently the Protocol Chair of an NIH-funded clinical trial in lupus nephritis, the Principal Investigator of a CDC-funded longitudinal lupus cohort of patients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and an Investigator on various translational studies focused on lupus nephritis and cutaneous lupus. She received the Edmund L. Dubois Memorial Lectureship Award from the American College of Rheumatology and the Ephraim Engleman Award for Excellence in Arthritis Research. Through her research, she hopes to develop advanced therapies for patients suffering from SLE. 

Professor Dall’Era is also active in the education of practicing physicians and trainees and lectures frequently on the topic of lupus at national conferences and review courses. She completed the formal, year-long UCSF Teaching Scholars Program to further develop her skills in this area.