Dr. Antonio Aviña was born in Atoyac, Jalisco, Mexico. He graduated as a Medical Doctor from the University of Guadalajara in 1989. He did his Internal Medicine training from 1990 to 1991 at the University of Guadalajara. From 1991 to 1993 he pursued his rheumatology fellowship at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM). He has been a National Scientist in Mexico since 1998.

After his formal training in Mexico, Dr. Aviña did a Clinical Research Fellowship at the University of Alberta from 1993 to 1995, and subsequently completed a Master's Degree in Experimental Medicine at the same University in 1997. In 2004, Dr. Aviña received a scholarship from both the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT-MEXICO) and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada to pursue a Doctoral Degree at The University of British Columbia under the supervision of Drs. John Esdaile and Diane Lacaille.

While in Canada, Dr. Aviña has been granted a Network Scholar research training award from the Canadian Arthritis Network and The Arthritis Society to start his career as a new investigator. Currently Dr. Aviña holds an appointment as an Assistant Professor at the Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Aviña has co-authored more than 50 publications in refereed journals, book chapters and peer reviewed published abstracts, and has been invited to present to a wide range of organizations throughout North America. Dr. Aviña's current research interests include the current epidemiology and burden of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs).