Axial Spondyloarthritis: Research that Matters

Dr. David Pisetsky

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), comprising ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and nonradiographic axial SpA, is the main form of chronic inflammatory arthritis affecting the axial skeleton. What research in axial spondyloarthrits to be presented at ACR Convergence 2024 has the greatest potential for a positive impact on clinical care, treatment options or serve as the basis for future research? That’s the question The Rheumatologist asked David S. Pisetsky, MD, PhD—our founding editor—to consider.

With thousands of research abstracts to be presented at the ACR’s premier meeting, to be held Nov. 14–19, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., figuring out what to focus on can be challenging.

Dr. Pisetsky, a professor of medicine and immunology at Duke University School of Medicine and a staff rheumatologist at the Durham VA Medical Center, both in Durham, N.C., will curate the research abstracts and posters and give us his take on the most important research on psoriatic arthritis being presented at the annual meeting. He will identify the important research, summarize the abstracts and comment on why each is important. He will address the relevance for clinicians and the potential impact on future research.

The recipient of the ACR’s Presidential Gold Medal award in 2016, Dr. Pisetsky is an academic physician. Since he was hired in 1978, he has held numerous positions at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.: Since 1990, he has served as pro­fessor of medicine; in 1994, he became a professor of immunology; and in 2019, he was named associate vice chair of academic affairs in the Department of Medicine. In 1978, he was also appointed as a staff physician in the section of rheumatology at Durham VA Hospital, North Carolina.

Like many accomplished physicians, Dr. Pisetsky has written a great deal—more than 500 papers, articles and chap­ters related to medicine. He also authored The Duke University Book of Arthritis, which is still available on Amazon almost 30 years after it was first published.

In 2006, he was named the first editor of The Rheumatologist and served in this role for five years.

Check back after the conference for his full report on the top research in axial spondyloarthritis to be presented at ACR Convergence 2024.