Richard Vehe MD

Richard K. Vehe, MD is a retired Professor of Pediatrics and was the Director of the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology from its establishment in 1997 to 2020. Dr. Vehe sees children for the evaluation and treatment of arthritis and related conditions such as dermatomyositis, lupus, and scleroderma in the Explorer Clinic at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's hospital’s Specialty. He directed the clinical program at the University from 1995-2020 and coordinated the educational experience in Pediatric Rheumatology for residents in the UM Pediatrics and Pediatric/Internal Medicine programs. He has been a frequent lecturer at local, regional, and national medical educational conferences. He was the Medical Editor for the Arthritis Foundation’s national wellness newsletter “Kids Get Arthritis Too” and for their book "Raising A Child With Arthritis." He completed the MD/MA program at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, residency and chief residency in Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, and fellowship in Pediatric Rheumatology at the University of Washington, Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, and Virginia Mason Research Center in Seattle where he had a special interest in the role of HLA class II gene expression and regulation in autoimmune diseases. He is board certified in Pediatric Rheumatology, and is past chair of the Subboard of Pediatric Rheumatology for the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Vehe is involved in collaborative studies through the Pediatric Rheumatology Collaborative Study Group and the Childhood Arthritis & Rheumatology Research Alliance.