Clinical Science Program Examines Emerging Therapeutics and Impactful Clinical Study Results

The Clinical Science track at ACR Convergence 2025 offers many timely opportunities for collaboration across different fields, according to Chair of the Clinical Science Team for the Annual Meeting Planning Committee (AMPC) Elizabeth Volkmann, MD, MS, Director of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Scleroderma Program, and Founder and Co-Director of the UCLA Connective Tissue Disease-Related Interstitial Lung Disease Program.

“We’ve tried to pick some core theme areas that would apply to different disease states,” Dr. Volkmann explained. “For example, we have sessions on the microbiome and its role across different autoimmune diseases, which we’re hoping will attract attendees who are not just focused on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but also lupus and scleroderma.”

Gastrointestinal Manifestations of Connective Tissue Diseases: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Emerging Research, starting at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 28, will review the role of the gut microbiome in gastrointestinal (GI) involvement, focusing on two novel areas: using the gut microbiome to inform treatment plans in RA and modifying the gut microbiome with nutritional approaches that may alleviate GI symptoms. The multi-disciplinary session will include an expert gastroenterologist to review the diverse manifestations of GI autoimmune rheumatic diseases, assisting rheumatologists with diagnoses and optimizing collaborations with gastroenterology specialists.

Dr. Volkmann also highlighted several sessions curated to explore exciting developments in preventive medicine, such as the Tuesday session, Prevention Is the Best Medicine: Updates for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The session will discuss the shifting paradigm toward the prevention of autoimmune diseases. Speakers will share updates from ongoing studies related to lupus and RA, including updates from the SMILE trial.

“Historically, with rheumatic diseases, we have waited until a patient’s condition is clinically advanced to intervene with therapies, and the goal is to stabilize them to prevent the disease from worsening,” Dr. Volkmann said. “Now that we have the technology to identify disease before it’s clinically overt, we can intervene earlier with preventive medicines that could help patients avoid severe complications of these conditions.”

At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 26, the Plenary I session will also explore the proteomics landscape, including how longitudinal peripheral blood multiomic profiling in at-risk individuals can uncover immune signatures and predictive models for future RA conversion.

ACR Convergence attendees can further immerse themselves in the evolving therapeutic landscape with GLP1 Agonists in Rheumatic Disease and Osteoarthritis: Should We Give Them to Everyone? Beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 27, the session will review the latest data from both basic science and clinical perspectives on the potential use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medications in treating osteoarthritis.

Plenary II,  8 a.m. on Monday, will include a presentation on how GLP-1 receptor agonists can reduce mortality and major cardiovascular (CV) events among patients with psoriatic arthritis.

“These drugs have been a major breakthrough for the treatment of obesity, but now there’s more evidence that there are a lot of opportunities with these drugs for being anti-inflammatory and potentially affecting the rheumatic disease itself,” Dr. Volkmann said.

She also noted that several sessions this year will integrate a patient perspective for critical insights into patients’ conditions and daily challenges. One such session, at 9 a.m. on Sunday, will be The Emerging Adult with JIA: What Adult Rheumatologists Need to Know, highlighting the important and unique aspects of caring for emerging adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) from the perspectives of a young adult patient, a pediatric rheumatologist, and an adult rheumatologist. These speakers will discuss transitioning pediatric patients to adult care and evidence-based best practices in providing optimal care before and after the transfer occurs.

“Many adult providers don’t have much experience treating patients making this transition into adult care, so we think it will be quite helpful to hear from a patient directly about what was helpful to them during that process,” Dr. Volkmann explained.

Finally, those who stay in Chicago through the final day of the meeting, Wednesday, October 29, will have the opportunity to attend the Clinical Year in Preview at 10 a.m. The session will spotlight several impactful abstracts that could shape clinical practice and research in the near future.

The complete list of ACR Convergence 2025 Clinical Science track sessions can be found in the online program.

Additional Clinical Science Sessions

Saturday, October 25

• Review Course, 7:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

Sunday, October 26

• Crystal Clear Solutions in CPPD, 9–10 a.m.
• Strength in Numbers: Using New Vaccines and Data to Protect the Immunocompromised, 9–10 a.m.
• Clinicopathologic Conference (CPC): The Curious Case of Chronic Pain: A Diagnosis in Disguise, 9–10 a.m.
• 2025 ACR Guideline for the Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, 9–10:30 a.m.
• Management of Challenging Cases in Myositis, 9–10:30 a.m.
• Sponsoring Women and Underrepresented Minorities in Team Science and Clinical Practice, 10–11:30 a.m.
• The Doctor ‘Nose’ Best: Ear, Nose, and Throat Manifestations in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis, 10:30–11:30 a.m.
• Controversies in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: Do Alternative Therapies Actually Work?, 10:30–11:30 a.m.
• Tackling the Burning Question of Peripheral Neuropathies in Sjögren’s Disease: New Guidelines, 10:30–11:30 a.m.
• The New Rules of the Road: An Update on CAR-T-Mediated Immune Reset for SLE, 1–2 p.m.
• Oh Baby! Reproductive Health in Antiphospholipid Syndrome, Sjögren’s and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, 1–2:30 p.m.
• Breathing New Life into Pulmonary Sarcoidosis: Updates and Ongoing Challenges in Evaluation and Treatment of Disease, 3–4 p.m.
• CARE to Test Your Knowledge: Complexities and Complications of Rheumatoid Arthritis, 3–4 p.m.
• Flying Solo: Recognizing and Treating Single-Organ Vasculitis, 3–4:30 p.m.
• Somatic Mutations in “Benign” Disease: What Every Rheumatologist Should Know, 4:15–5:15 p.m.
• Shifting the Spotlight: New Horizons in the Diagnosis and Management of Psoriatic Arthritis,  4:15–5:15 p.m.

Monday, October 27

• Nutrition for Rheumatic Disease: Where Aging Biology, Sarcopenia, and Diet Intersect, 8–9:30 a.m.
• Gazing into the Crystal Ball: Gout and Cardiometabolic Comorbidity Management, 8–9:30 a.m.
• Strengthening Our Understanding of Less Common Forms of Inflammatory Myopathies, 8:30–9:30 a.m.
• Reproductive Health Guidelines Turn Five: What’s New and What Now?, 8:30–9:30 a.m.
• BiTE The Dust: T Cell-Engaging Antibody Therapies to Eliminate Autoreactive Immune Compartments in Rheumatic Diseases, 8:30–9:30 a.m.
• Updates in Pulmonary Hypertension in Connective Tissue Diseases, 8:30–9:30 a.m.
• Adult Thieves Market: Show Me Your Best Cases!, 8:30–9:30 a.m.
• The Many Faces of ILD in Rheumatic Diseases, 1–2 p.m.
• Bench to Bedside in Diagnosis and Treatment of Lupus Nephritis, 1–2:30 p.m.
• Axial Spondyloarthritis and Its Mimics Across the Age Spectrum: Emerging Concepts, 1–2:30 p.m.
• From Biology to Community: Insights into Inflammatory Arthritis and the Complexities of Care in Indigenous Populations, 2:30–3:30 p.m.
• CARE to Test Your Knowledge: Refractory ANCA Vasculitis, 3–4 p.m.
• Fake Rheum: Case-Based Approach to Rheumatology Mimics, 4–5 p.m.
• Cancer Immunotherapy and Its Toxicities, Today and Tomorrow, 4–5 p.m.
  This session of the 2025 Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy series is presented in collaboration with the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC).

Tuesday, October 28

• Updates in Osteoporosis: Where They ‘Fall Short,’ 8:30–9:30 a.m.
• Great Debate: Giant Cell Arteritis: Ultrasound vs. Biopsy, 10–11 a.m.
• Challenges and Solutions for Management of Raynaud’s Phenomenon, 10:30–11:30 a.m.
• Ouch! What’s New in Pain?, 10:30–11:30 a.m.
• Getting to the Heart of the Issue: Perimyocarditis in Autoimmune Diseases, 1–2 p.m.
• Curbside Consults, 1–2 p.m.
• From Frustration to Confidence: Promoting Medication Adherence in Rheumatology, 2:30–3:30 p.m.
• CARE to Test Your Knowledge: Challenges in Osteoporosis Management, 3–4 p.m.
• More Than the Sum of Parts: A Roadmap to Target Social Risk Factors in Rheumatology, 4–5 p.m.

Wednesday, October 29

• Say Cheese: Oral Health in Scleroderma and Sjögren’s Disease, 8–9 a.m.