2024 Walk to Cure Arthritis Honorees

Matthew P. Willis M.D.
Southern Joint
Replacement Institute
Orthopedic Honoree

Matthew P. Willis, M.D. is a fellowship-trained, board-certified orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in disorders of the elbow and shoulder at Southern Joint Replacement Institute in Nashville. Dr. Willis says, “Arthritis is a crippling disease…it steals the mobility of people and causes them to alter their lifestyle, some to the point of taking away their function and completely shutting them down. I appreciate the service of the Arthritis Foundation in the role of helping people become more aware of the disease, providing educational support for helping them deal with it, and for the funds they help raise for research. I'm happy to have been able to help patients with medical treatment options or surgery."

Lisa Buckley M.D.
Vanderbilt
Rheumatology Honoree

Lisa Buckley, M.D. is a pediatric rheumatologist at Vanderbilt. She attended the University of Georgia and medical school at the Medical College of Georgia. She completed pediatric residency at the Medical University of South Carolina and fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She joined the fabulous group at Vanderbilt in 2019.

Dr. Buckley is helping care for the incredible children with rheumatic diseases in Nashville. When not seeing patients in clinic, she helps enhance the quality of care provided to children using a combination of quality improvement and informatics. A few initiatives include the improvement of pneumococcal vaccination in children with lupus, calculating and monitoring disease activity scores for children with JIA, and standardizing provider documentation.

Angela
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Adult Honoree

Angela was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis at age 8 after knee pain that resulted in difficulty walking. After six months of active disease, she was in remission for almost 13 years until again she had difficulty with mobility resulting in diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis at age 21. Despite periods of flares and remissions for the last 30 years, Angela has completed her nursing degree to the doctoral level by the grace of God. She had the privilege of working with children and families directly for many years. Now, she trains future nurses at Inman College of Nursing at Belmont University.

Annabella Culwell
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Teen Honoree

Annabella Culwell is sixteen years old who struggled with deteriorating joints, swollenness, redness, decreased range of motion, fatigue and great pain. After being misdiagnosed several times, she was finally diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. For Annabella, Jesus, her doctors and nurses, family, friends, and medicine make her journey easier to get through. Annabella says, “If I’m being real…life is easy when you’re up on the mountain, but your faith is put to test in the valley, after all, no rain, no flowers.” Annabella and her family joined the Walk to Cure Arthritis last year and has returned as our 2024 Teen Honoree. She is excited to tell her arthritis story!

Willow
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Youth Honoree

Willow is an energetic 6 year old who loves school, art, gymnastics and spending time with family and friends. She was diagnosed with JIA before her 3rd birthday in March of 2020. Since then, she has bravely undergone several joint injections and receives a weekly injection at home to effectively manage her arthritis. Willow and her family are extremely grateful for her team at Vanderbilt Children's Rheumatology who have been on this journey with them. Willow participated in the Walk to Cure Arthritis for the first time last year with her team, Willow's Warriors, and is looking forward to raising awareness and funds for this cause again this year.