This year’s Great Debate focused on the value of tapering biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have achieved low disease activity (LDA).

Anakinra, an interleukin antagonist commonly used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, is also used for other inflammatory diseases and recently has been studied as a treatment with chemotherapy for some cancers, according to Charles Dinarello, MD, who presented the Rheumatology Research Foundation Philip Hench, MD Memorial Lecture on Monday.

“A big part of the crisis has to do with how we use bisphosphonates safely and effectively,” said Kenneth G. Saag, MD, MSc, the Jane Knight Lowe Professor and Vice Chair of Medicine and Director of the Center for Outcomes, Effectiveness Research, and Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Make it three Knowledge Bowl championships in three years for The Hawkeyes from the University of Iowa.

“We have a specific commitment to the next generation of clinician scientists,” said Stephen I. Katz, MD, PhD, Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of NIH.

Alex Limanni, MD, Rheumatologist at the Arthritis Centers of Texas in Dallas, explained the outcome measures that determine a MIPS score, which is based on a 100-point scale.

At this year’s Clinicopathologic Conference, a team of four physicians from the National Institutes of Health and George Washington University presented a case study of a rare inflammatory disease and the series of imaging and pathology tests they conducted to finally arrive at a diagnosis.

Rheumatology Research Foundation President Eric Matteson, MD, MPH, recognized 175 award recipients on Monday at the Foundation’s Annual Awards Luncheon.