Dr. N. Lawrence Edwards is Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, as well as Program Director and Vice Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Dr. Edwards obtained his undergraduate training at the University of Notre Dame and his medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine. He completed his training in Rheumatology at the Rackham Arthritis Research Center and the Clinical Research Center, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he remained on the faculty as Director of Education and Training in the Division of Rheumatology. In 1983 he moved to the University of Florida where he is the former Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology and former Rheumatology Program Director for 15 years. For the past 22 years he has been Vice Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Program Director of the Medicine Residency Training Program at the University of Florida. Up on retirement in 2025, Dr Edwards retained Emeritus Professor status at the University of Florida

Dr. Edwards is an active member of many professional organizations including the American College of Rheumatology, American College of Physicians, and the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine. He is on the Executive Board of the Florida Chapter of ACP, the Co-chair of the Gout Interest Group for OMERACT since 2005 and the Chairman and CEO of the Gout and Uric Acid Education Society – a non-profit, patient education organization – for the past 20 years. He has authored 200 scientific articles, book chapters and reviews on the topics of hyperuricemia, gout, and purine metabolism. He is a Master of both the ACP and the ACR.