Professor Bhaskar Dasgupta

I am a Rheumatologist and a foremost expert for the inflammatory rheumatological conditions giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica. I was honoured in the King’s New Year list with a Membership of the British Empire (MBE) for services to people with these conditions. I have brought modern rheumatology to Southend and wider Essex. I am a foremost exponent in ultrasonography (vascular and MSK) and have developed the concept of Point-Of-Care Rheumatology Ultrasound (POCRUS) which integrates ultrasound seamlessly into rheumatology practice.

I have been Head of Rheumatology and Clinical Director of research and audit at Southend University Hospital. I hold a visiting professorship at Anglia Ruskin University and honorary professorships at Essex University and Queen Mary University London. I originally trained at Guy's Hospital and was a Consultant Rheumatologist for 32 years at Southend where I was responsible for developing the department into a unit with an international reputation for clinical, academic and training excellence.

I have a longstanding interest in musculoskeletal and temporal artery ultrasonography and regularly lecture at international workshops and host national and regional courses. I have developed a predictive HAS-GCA score for diagnosing giant cell arteritis by sequentially applying the Southend GCA probability score followed by ultrasonography. The paper was published in the prestigious Lancet Rheumatology.

I have had a lifelong interest in Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) and Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) and have published over 400 articles (including papers in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet and Nature Reviews) and national and international guidelines on these topics. My work was celebrated in the BBC2 flagship health programme 'Trust me I'm a Doctor' screened in February 2017. I developed the fast track GCA pathway that reduced sight loss and received the Outstanding Best Practice award by the BSR. This salient contribution was mentioned in the House of Commons by the late Sir David Amess in 2016.

I am leading the consensus building Delphi Survey to establish the concept of GPSD (GCAPMR Spectrum Disease) and am the Chief Investigator for several multicentre clinical trials. I regularly run international training courses on vascular ultrasound and POCRUS.

I published nearly 400 original articles in peer reviewed reputed journals.  With recent 2023 publications in Nature Reviews, New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet. I have lead the concept of GPSD (GCAPMR Spectrum Disease) and am the Chief Investigator for several multicentre clinical trials. I run international training courses on vascular ultrasound and have developed the concept of POCRUS (point of care rheumatology ultrasound).