Rebecca Schumacher, BS

Executive Director, FORWARD—The National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases

Rebecca has been the Executive Director of FORWARD since 2004 and started as a Research Assistant/Project Manager in 2001.
She provides the support for all aspects of the organization and FORWARD research and projects including: project planning/management/execution, data collection, Quality Control and Assurance, and data analysis.

Michaud K, Vrijens B, Tousset E, Pedro S, Schumacher R, Dasic G, Chen C, Agarwal E, Suarez-Almazor ME. Real-World Adherence to Oral Methotrexate Measured Electronically in Patients With Established Rheumatoid Arthritis. ACR Open Rheumatology. September 2019, pp1-11. doi: 10.1002/acr2.11079


Ozen G, Pedro S, Schumacher R, Simon TA, Michaud K. Safety of abatacept compared with other biologic and conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: data from an observational study. Arthritis Res Ther.2019 Jun 7:21(1):141. doi: 10.1186/s13075-019-1921-z. PubMed link


Mollard E, Pedro S, Chakravarty E, Clowse M, Schumacher R, Michaud K. The impact of menopause on functional status in women with rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2018 May 1;57(5):798-802. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kex526. PubMed link

“Without the support and participation of patients, health care providers, organizations, and others in the rheumatology community, rheumatic disease research—and improvements to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of rheumatic diseases—would not be possible. They help keep the research moving FORWARD.”

Rebecca Schumacher, Executive Director, FORWARD—The National Databank for Rheumatic Diseases