The highly anticipated and always popular Thieves Market sessions—one focused on adult cases and the other on pediatric cases—are returning to ACR Convergence 2026 in Orlando. Each lively session features four oral presentations by rheumatology fellows from around the world. A recording of the Adult session will be available to registered participants for on-demand viewing.
“We received 227 submissions this year [for the Adult Thieves Market session], and only four were selected for the oral presentation,” said Angelo Gaffo, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “There is an extensive and rigorous peer review process to reach this stage. Being selected for these sessions is a great honor and a great achievement for these fellows.”
At stake for the presenters are complimentary registrations to ACR Convergence 2027 and the chance to be featured as a Brief and/or Case Report in ACR Open Rheumatology. These will be awarded to the first-place winners of each category.
Dr. Gaffo will lead the session Adult Thieves Market: Show Me Your Best Cases! on Sunday, November 8, from 1–2 p.m., in Room W304A-H of the Orange County Convention Center. Featured presenters will include Qianzi Zhao, MD, PhD, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH); Anna Witkowska, MD, Beaumont Hospital; Andrea Ramirez Olarte, MD, BS, Tulane University School of Medicine; and Lohitha Arja, MD, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences.
Pediatric Thieves Market: Show Me Your Best Cases! will take place the following day, Monday, November 9, from 2:30–3:30 p.m., in Room W414. Gina Montealegre Sanchez, MD, MS, Associate Research Physician in the Intramural Clinical Management and Operations Branch (ICMOB), Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH, will co-moderate the session alongside Joyce Hui-Yuen, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Northwell Health System. The session will feature presentations from Nicole Carson, MD, Duke University; Suhas Ganguli, MD, Albany Medical College; Connie Jiang, MD, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital; and Maria Schletzbaum Bowler, MD, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis.
While the exact presentations will not be revealed until the sessions take place, Dr. Gaffo said attendees can expect a diverse blend of scenarios.
The sessions are both highly educational and interactive, providing fellows with a platform to present challenging or unusual cases and offering attendees the opportunity to learn about topics that may not be covered in textbooks or guidelines.
“You can relate to the situations, ask questions directly, and share the challenges that practicing groups, fellows, and their attending physicians face when working through these cases,” Dr. Gaffo explained.
Attendees will gain unique insights into how the diagnosing teams approached the cases, including the diagnoses discussed, the conditions considered in the differential diagnosis, and how they reached their conclusions.
“For fellows in training, the session can offer a particularly valuable look at how to evaluate cases, consult with colleagues, build a differential diagnosis, and determine a treatment approach,” Dr. Gaffo said.
He noted that additional cases will be featured during the Adult Thieves Market and Pediatric Thieves Market poster presentations, which will take place from 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m. daily Sunday–Tuesday, November 8–10, in the Poster Hall.
JOIN US IN ORLANDO
If you haven’t registered for ACR Convergence 2026, register today to participate in this year’s premier rheumatology experience, November 6–11 in Orlando, Florida. All registered participants receive on-demand access to scientific sessions after the meeting through September 30, 2027.
