Daniel Aletaha (born June 15, 1975 in Vienna^[1][2]) is an Austrian physician and professor of rheumatology. He has been head of the Department of Rheumatology at the Medical University of Vienna since 1 July 2019,^[3] and the President of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) since 2023.^[4][5][6]

Aletaha studied human medicine at the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna, obtaining his doctorate in June 1999 and subsequently completing his training as a specialist in internal medicine at the General Hospital of the City of Vienna.^[7] This was followed in 2006 by his habilitation in internal medicine with his paper on "Therapy of chronic polyarthritis: strategies and their implementation". Aletaha completed further academic studies as Master of Clinical Sciences (MS, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA; 2006)^[8] and Master of Business Administration (MBA, Danube University Krems; 2017). Research visits have taken him to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, in 2004-2006, among others.^[9] Since 2023, Aletaha has been president of EULAR.^[10]

In June 2019, he was appointed Professor of Rheumatology, succeeding Josef Smolen, and Head of the Department of Rheumatology at the Medical University of Vienna.^[11]

Aletaha is the author of more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, including in international journals such as The Lancet and Nature Medicine.^{[citation needed]} He is first author of the international classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (ACR/EULAR 2010 Classification Criteria for Rheumatoid Arthritis).^[12]

In 2005 and 2006, Aletaha was awarded the Science Prize of the Austrian Society of Rheumatology (ÖGR),^[13] followed by the Theodor Billroth Prize of the Austrian Medical Association in 2011.^[14] In 2016, Aletaha was appointed Honorary Member of EULAR,^[15] and in 2023, was elected President of the same organisation.^[16][17]