of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, a research organization located in Moscow that studies the origin, development, treatment, and prevention of rheumatic diseases. Founded in 1958 as the Institute of Rheumatic Diseases of the Ministry of Public Health of the RSFSR, it became part of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR in 1962.
As of 1974, the institute had four clinical departments, as well as laboratories specializing in clinical biochemistry, functional diagnosis, clinical immunology, epidemiology, pathomorphology, immunopathology, the biochemistry and histochemistry of connective tissue, and the study of streptococci. The institute also had a scientific organization section and a department of scientific and medical information. The All-Union Center of Arthrology of the Ministry of Public Health of the USSR functions within the institute’s department of clinical arthrology. The Institute of Rheumatic Diseases is the leading organization in the USSR for the study of rheumatic diseases, other diseases of connective tissue, and chronic joint diseases.
The institute has a clinical residency program and resident and correspondence graduate programs. The Central Institute for the Advanced Training of Physicians conducts courses in the institute for the specialized and advanced training of physicians in rheumatology.