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Maximize the utility of
imaging biomarkers
to the benefit of
patients with arthritis.
Learn more about the project  

AutoPiX is a major international project focused on improving healthcare for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).

The AutoPiX project brings together pharmaceutical and medical technology partners with leading academic institutions to enhance the use of imaging biomarkers for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), collectively known as systemic arthritides.

It aims to develop advanced imaging tools and artificial intelligence (AI) models to better diagnose, monitor, and treat these conditions. These tools will make use of imaging biomarkers—like X-rays, ultrasounds, and MRIs—to provide more precise and personalised care.

AutoPiX is a major international project focused on improving healthcare for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).

The AutoPiX project brings together pharmaceutical and medical technology partners with leading academic institutions to enhance the use of imaging biomarkers for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), collectively known as systemic arthritides.

It aims to develop advanced imaging tools and artificial intelligence (AI) models to better diagnose, monitor, and treat these conditions. These tools will make use of imaging biomarkers—like X-rays, ultrasounds, and MRIs—to provide more precise and personalised care.

Learn more about the project  

Patient Involvement in Autopix

The AutoPiX consortium is committed to meaningful patient involvement to maximise the project's impact on patients, healthcare services, and society. Recognising the essential role of patient perspectives in research, a dedicated Patient Advisory Panel (PAP), composed of expert Patient Research Partners (PRPs) recruited from the EULAR PARE network and its member organisations, will be established. This panel will provide critical insights throughout the project’s lifecycle, ensuring that research activities align with patient priorities and that findings are effectively translated into clinical practice.

EULAR will implement a structured, patient-centred engagement strategy, leveraging its extensive experience fostering collaboration between patients and researchers. PRPs will actively contribute to strategic decision-making processes, offering valuable perspectives that enhance scientific understanding and inform key project tasks and deliverables, such as trial design, the optimisation of digital tools, enhancing their usability and impact, or reviewing lay summaries and translations. The PAP will also advise on communication strategies to effectively engage patients and the wider public.

To support and empower PRPs, EULAR will develop tailored training resources and a comprehensive Patient Engagement Plan in collaboration with the Engagement Coordination Team (ECT). This plan will build on successful engagement models and be adapted to the specific objectives and needs of the AutoPiX project.

To ensure the ongoing effectiveness of patient involvement, this strategy will be evaluated annually, assessing its impact and identifying areas for improvement. Additionally, the AutoPiX consortium will adhere to EULAR’s recommendations for collaborative research, continuously refining its approach to maintain a high standard of inclusivity and ethical integrity.

Through this dynamic patient involvement framework, AutoPiX aims to set a standard for patient-centred innovation in rheumatological research and care, fostering a culture of shared decision-making and long-term patient benefit.

Patient Research Partners

Peter Böhm

Peter Böhm

Peter Böhm

Peter Böhm is a patient with ankylosing spondylitis and osteoarthritis in the hips (diagnosed in the 1970s). He has been an active member of patient organisations for more than 40 years.

In 2014, he completed the first German training for Patient Research Partners. Since then, he has participated in various research projects, first in Germany and, later on, at the international level (among these, the iPRePaRe project of the University of Aberdeen). In 2017, Mr. Böhm participated in the 2nd PARE PRP meeting and became a member of the EULAR PRP network. One of his tasks for the network is to represent the patient perspective on task forces for EULAR recommendations. He was – and is – involved in developing several EULAR recommendations, including the updated recommendations for the involvement of patient research partners in rheumatology research.

Mr. Böhm is currently a member of the EULAR Research Committee and the PARE Sub-committee for Education and Research. He lives in Berlin, Germany and has been retired from his work as a psychologist and social worker since March 2024.

Boryana Boteva

Boryana Boteva

Boryana Boteva

Boryana Boteva was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 2008. She has volunteered for the Bulgarian Organisation for People with Rheumatic Diseases (BOPRD) since its establishment in 2010 and is currently its president. In 2009, she helped establish the Bulgarian Ankylosing Spondylitis Society.

Ms. Boteva works with BOPRD to raise awareness of all rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases among the general public and policy makers, taking part in meetings between patients and institutions. She has a keen interest in improving patient communication with healthcare teams, patients’ right to information, self-management courses and communicating with institutions.

Ms. Boteva has been a PARE committee member since 2015 and was Knowledge Transfer Programme Working Group Leader. Currently, she leads the Internal and External Affairs Working Group and is chair of the Community Relations Sub-committee. She has been an AGORA board member since 2017, part of the Patient Research Partner Network and an ENFA board member since 2020. She studied law in Sofia at the University St. Kliment Ohridski.

Ivana Moldovan

Ivana Moldovan

Ivana Moldovan

Ivana Moldovan has been living with rheumatoid arthritis since 2021 and became an active member of the Association of Patients with Rheumatic Diseases of the Republic of Serbia (ORS) the same year she received her diagnosis.

Since 2023, Ms. Moldovan has also been involved with EULAR PARE as part of the Volunteer Framework working group. This is Ms. Moldovan’s first time contributing to research as a Patient Research Partner, after completing training on a national level organised by her patient organisation.

Iris Verbinnen

Iris Verbinnen

Iris Verbinnen

Iris Verbinnen was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2014, and since then, she has completed training as a patient expert, contributing to various projects.

In 2022–2023, Dr Verbinnen participated in Rheumacensus, a pan-European initiative aimed at identifying ways to elevate the standard of care and treatment ambition for patients with psoriatic arthritis from the perspectives of three stakeholder groups: patients, healthcare professionals, and payors. She served as the group lead for the patient representatives and was the first author of the manuscript on this initiative.

Dr Verbinnen has also been involved in several academic projects and holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences (2019). Currently, she works as a postdoctoral researcher focusing on a rare neurological disorder, which gives her a strong scientific background.

Dr Verbinnen is passionate about being involved in research related to her condition, as a meaningful way to contribute to better understanding, improved therapies, and more accurate diagnoses. Outside of work, she is a busy mom to two young children who keep her on her toes. In her free time, she enjoys doing Pilates.

Sebastien Vincent

Sebastien Vincent

Sebastien Vincent

Sébastien Vincent was born in Montréal, Québec, Canada. He worked in Malaysia, Canada, France, the USA, the Netherlands and two-thirds of his life in several parts of Switzerland. He speaks and reads in French, English, Italian and German.

Dr Vincent studied chemistry (PhD) in Switzerland, worked in scientific research (three post-doctoral positions), then in industry for food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and polymers, before co-founding and co-running four start-up companies in innovation. He worked in research, development, production, logistics, and marketing, with an emphasis on innovation, developing people and solving complex problems.

During his professional life, Dr Vincent learnt sociology, designed and carried out field studies. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 8, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Crohn's disease when he was 30, and narcolepsy when he was 50. This led to a shift from intense working life to voluntary support of autoimmune chronic patients.

Dr Vincent is an RA patient expert. He leads a local section of RA patients in Switzerland and is on committees of patient organisations.

Dr Vincent will contribute as a PRP to several WPs in the AutoPiX project. His interests in this research context are the ethics from the patients’ point of view, data handling and safety.