Dr. Mahboob Rahman MD, PhD
About Mahboob Rahman
Dr. Mahboob Rahman is a Member of the Clinical Advisory Board at IAG, Image Analysis Group (since May 2026). He is a Clinical Advisor and Rheumatologist at Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates of South Jersey, Vineland, NJ (since June 2021). He served as Head of Clinical Sciences, Gastrointestinal and Inflammation Therapeutic Area Unit at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Massachusetts (September 2021 to April 2026), leading a group of approximately 70 physicians and scientists, with multiple BLAs and NDAs approved during his tenure. He is a senior pharmaceutical executive with over 25 years of experience in clinical research and leadership across large pharmaceutical corporations, biotech companies, and academic institutions, spanning clinical development, clinical operations, medical affairs, regulatory and licensing, product development, commercialization, and market access.
Dr. Rahman’s primary therapeutic expertise is in immunology, rheumatology, and gastroenterology/inflammation, with a particular focus on the clinical development of biologic and small molecule therapies for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, non-radiographic axial spondylarthritis, psoriasis, SLE, and related inflammatory conditions. His scientific background is in molecular biology (PhD, Medical College of Pennsylvania) and he trained at Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania. His translational research contributions include extensive work on TNF-alpha inhibitors (infliximab, golimumab, etanercept, adalimumab), IL-12/23 inhibitors (ustekinumab), IL-17 inhibitors (secukinumab/Cosentyx), IL-1 inhibitors (canakinumab/Ilaris), and JAK inhibitors (tofacitinib/Xeljanz).
His methodological contributions include systematic literature analyses of TNF inhibitor clinical trial design and patient characteristics over 16 years (Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2011), MRI assessment of synovitis, osteitis, and bone erosion in RA (multiple GO-BEFORE and GO-FORWARD sub-studies), and cardiovascular biomarker and carotid ultrasound analyses in inflammatory arthritides. He has contributed to the development and application of RAMRIS scoring and imaging endpoints in sponsored trials.
Dr. Rahman has served as a senior named investigator, clinical development lead, and/or study author on multiple Phase II and Phase III sponsored clinical trials. Named trials with confirmed authorship from supplied sources include: GO-FORWARD (golimumab in active RA despite methotrexate; Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2009, PMID: 19066176; and multiple sub-studies); GO-BEFORE (golimumab in methotrexate-naive RA; multiple MRI and biomarker sub-studies); GO-AFTER (golimumab in RA after prior TNF inhibitor failure; Lancet 2009, PMID: 19560810); GO-REVEAL (golimumab in psoriatic arthritis; Arthritis & Rheumatology 2012); GO-RAISE (golimumab in ankylosing spondylitis; referenced in ASSERT/GO-RAISE matrix model analysis); PRESERVE (etanercept in moderate RA, treat-to-target study; Rheumatology International 2017, and International Journal of Clinical Rheumatology 2014); ASSERT (ankylosing spondylitis etanercept RCT; referenced in matrix model analysis); and a Phase III randomized controlled trial of etanercept in early non-radiographic axial spondylarthritis (Arthritis & Rheumatology 2014, PMID confirmed from ResearchGate).
He was Senior Director of Clinical Research & Development at Centocor/Johnson & Johnson (2002 to 2010), where he was directly involved in the development of Remicade (infliximab), Simponi (golimumab), and Stelara (ustekinumab). At Pfizer (2010 to 2013) he was VP Clinical Development and Medical Affairs involved in the development of Xeljanz (tofacitinib) and Enbrel (etanercept). At Novartis (2013 to 2018) he was VP and Therapeutic Area Head for Auto-Immune & Skeletal Diseases, involved in the development of Cosentyx (secukinumab) and Ilaris (canakinumab).
Dr. Rahman has 144 publications listed on ResearchGate with 7,668 citations. He was trained at Harvard Medical School (Instructor in Medicine, 1998 to 2002) and held an Adjunct Professor of Medicine appointment at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (2002 to 2016) and a Clinical Professor of Medicine appointment at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (2017 to 2019). He has a strong scientific background combining an MD from Dhaka Medical College with a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and specialty training in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. His publications span top journals including The Lancet, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis & Rheumatology, British Journal of Rheumatology, and PLOS One.
Dr. Rahman obtained his MD from Dhaka Medical College (1976 to 1982) and his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Medical College of Pennsylvania (1989 to 1994). He completed Internal Medicine and Rheumatology specialty training and joined the Harvard Medical School faculty as Instructor in Medicine (January 1998 to March 2002), where he conducted NIH-funded research in clinical and translational immunology. He held an Adjunct Professor of Medicine appointment at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (August 2002 to December 2016) and a Clinical Professor of Medicine appointment at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (February 2017 to June 2019). His industry career spans Centocor/Johnson & Johnson (Senior Director Clinical R&D, 2002 to 2010), Pfizer (VP Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, 2010 to 2013), Novartis (VP and Therapeutic Area Head Auto-Immune & Skeletal Diseases, 2013 to 2018), Glenmark (President & CMO, 2018 to 2019), Mesoblast (Global Head Immunology Development and Pharmacovigilance, 2019 to 2020), CytoDyn (Executive Officer and CSO, 2020 to 2021), and Takeda (Head of Clinical Sciences GI and Inflammation TAU, 2021 to 2026).