The session will include presentations by Rheumatology Research Foundation Clinician Scholar Educator Award winners, including Bernadette Siaton, MD, who will present “Development of a Web-based Rheumatology Curriculum.”
Among the scheduled presentations, Tony Yaksh, PhD, Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego, will describe the basic mechanisms of pain pathways in the context of arthritis and joint pain.
In a collaboration designed to encourage professional relationships between junior and senior rheumatologists, and promote rheumatology around the globe, the ACR, the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRA), and the Pan American League of Associations for Rheumatology (PANLAR) have partnered to support the International Visiting Fellows Exchange Program.
Saturday’s “A Guide to Navigating the Waters of Giant Cell Arteritis and Polymyalgia Rheumatica” session with Rebecca Manno, MD, MHS, included a look at the potential use of tocilizumab, which the FDA has given a breakthrough therapy designation for these conditions.
“I think there’s room for further data and evidence, but in general, I think we use this in our patients for the benefits of joint preservation, enhancing work productivity, improving quality of life, and enhancing the probability of remission,” said John M. Davis, MD, MS.
Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is routinely used in some surgical centers. ACI is the only cell-based therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration for cartilage repair routinely covered by both public and private insurance plans, said Andreas Gomoll, MD.
Ravi Suppiah, MBChB, MD, FRACP, and members of the steering committee responsible for overseeing the update will explain the need for revised classification criteria, highlight the changes to the classification criteria, and demonstrate how to apply the criteria appropriately.
“We now know of antibody-mediated diseases that did not have an explanation and were probably misdiagnosed previously in many cases and not appropriately treated,” said Tracey Cho, MD.
Across different populations of Native Americans tend to have higher frequency of some rheumatic diseases, said Judith A. James, MD, PhD, including rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Jon T. Giles, MD, MPH, one of the session presenters, will discuss adiposity and inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis.