What’s In the Rheum? The ACR/ARP Annual Meeting’s Latest Engaging Session Format

Punt the podium and put those laser pointers away. The hottest topics will be featured in a shorter, casual series at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, Nov. 8–13, called In the Rheum. These are not your old school Annual Meeting lectures. In the Rheum chats are 30 minutes long and designed to be interactive and engaging. Speakers will explore cutting-edge topics facing rheumatologists today, download the latest research findings and dive into discussion and debate on how to tackle pressing challenges in clinical care.

What’s on Tap In the Rheum?
Harvard Medical School Professor Anupam Bapu Jena, MD, PhD, will chat about Pain Management During an Opioid Crisis, exploring current literature that uses new methods to analyze observational data and inform the understanding of the causes and consequences of opioid misuse.

Opioid abuse affects patients from all walks of life and has been associated with many deaths—yet these powerful medications may be prescribed for patients with chronic pain conditions who are at risk for dependence. Dr. Jena will discuss how natural experiments offer a unique way to causally analyze the effects of prescribing behaviors and opioid prescribing policies, as well as many opioid-related clinical issues. But it’s an approach that’s underused in today’s medical arena. Dr. Jena is the Ruth L. Newhouse Associate Professor of Health Care Policy and Medicine, Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard, and assistant physician in the Department of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Another in the series of thought-provoking talks In the Rheum is a lively debate on The Case for Minimizing Steroids in Rheumatic Disease. Corticosteroids have long been a mainstay of therapy for many rheumatologic conditions, but the side effects of their long-term use prompt the need to use them as judiciously as possible—and to seek new approaches to therapy when possible. The three speakers for this In the Rheum series are:

• Iain McInnes, MD, PhD, professor of experimental medicine and director of the Research Institute in Immunology at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, who will explore the latest evidence on Steroid-Free Treatment of RA;
• Liz Lightstone, MBBS, MA, PhD, professor of renal medicine at Imperial College London, who will present her perspectives and recent research on the Steroid-Free Remission of Lupus Nephritis; and
• John H. Stone, MD, MPH, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, where he is the Edward A. Fox Chair in Medicine and director of Clinical Rheumatology at Massachusetts General Hospital Clinical and Translational Research Center. The leading clinical investigator on IgG4-related disease, Dr. Stone will talk with attendees about his views on Minimizing Steroids in Vasculitis.

Finally, don’t miss the Daily Digest sessions held Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday from 4:30–5:00 p.m. With two speakers each day, these sessions will engage in an informal, dynamic and lively discussion recapitulating the biggest scientific takeaways. Make sure you don’t miss these exciting conversations on the latest, most innovative approaches to rheumatologic care—get In the Rheum at this year’s Annual Meeting!