Dr Laurence Clemens is a rheumatologist who has had a long career with involvement in clinical care within the public and private health systems. He was Head of Rheumatology at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne for nearly 20 years and was involved with clinical research, patient care, teaching and training. He is a past president of the Australian Rheumatology Association and a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at The University of Melbourne. He has had an ongoing interest in Scleroderma and has witnessed this most difficult of auto-immune connective tissue diseases become a major research and clinical activity at St Vincent’s as a result of the exceptional efforts of his colleagues.