2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting: What You Can Expect

The following article is a part of conference coverage from the 2019 American College of Rheumatology/The Association of Rheumatology Professionals (ACR/ARP) Annual Meeting, being held in Atlanta, Georgia. The team at Rheumatology Advisor will be reporting on the latest news and research conducted by leading experts in rheumatology. Check back for more from the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting.

The 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting will take place from Friday, November 8, to Wednesday, November 13, in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference will include hundreds of sessions that seek to inform the more than 16,000 rheumatology professionals from more than 100 countries about the latest cutting-edge research in rheumatology.

This year’s agenda will include competitive interactive sessions, namely Knowledge Bowl, where competing teams answer questions about topics related to rheumatology, and Thieves Market, where rheumatologists will present interesting clinical case images seen among both children and adults.¹

New to ACR/ARP 2019 is the Daily Digest, a session that will summarize highlights from each day’s event; a concept called “meeting within a meeting,” which will include a “community of learners” who will, this year, make the learning experience for pediatric rheumatologists more enjoyable; and the launch of several pilots as part of the Educational Strategic Plan.

There will be 4 educational tracks for attendees to select the information most relevant to their clinical practice.

Basic Science, which will include:

·  Neuropsychiatric Lupus: Novel Pathways and Potential Targets

· Mechanisms of Accelerated Cardiovascular Disease in Autoimmunity

· Vasculitis Syndrome: Where East and West Converge

Business-Administration, which will include:

· How to Apply Statistics to Your Research

· Keep Up With Insurance Changes: How They May Affect Patients

· How to Make Electronic Medical Records Work for You

Clinical and Translational Research, which will include:

· Antiphospholipid Syndrome

· Axial Spondyloarthritis Clinical Features Tour

· Fibromyalgia and Other Clinical Pain Syndromes

Clinical Practice, which will include:

· Pediatric Rheumatology 101

· Systemic Sclerosis: How to Perform Skin Scores

· Polymyalgia Rheumatica

The Opening Lecture & Awards this year, to be presented by David L Hu, PhD, BSME, on his latest book, How to Walk on Water and Climb Up Walls, is expected to offer thought-provoking insights for the rheumatology community.

Scheduled plenary sessions at the event will include topics such as the role of cardiovascular disease in lupus, long-term outcomes of tocilizumab in giant cell arteritis, effect of 6-week treatment of painful hand osteoarthritis with prednisolone, Medicare spending trends for biologic antirheumatic drugs, and the contribution of mitochondria to juvenile dermatomyositis.

The Great Debate: Anabolic Agents Are/Are Not Appropriate First-Line Therapy for Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis, being held Monday, November 11, promises to be lively and engaging with expert comments and supporting data.

“In regard to specific topics — I am excited about the sessions dedicated to reproductive health at this year’s meeting, especially since our guideline on reproductive health for patients with rheumatic disease is scheduled for publication early next year,” ACR 2019 president Paula Marchetta, MD, MBA, stated in a news interview.²

She concluded, “Our inclusivity sets our meeting apart. The Annual Meeting brings together a diverse range of rheumatology professionals. The ACR is unique in that it’s a single society that covers all of rheumatology.”

References

1. 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. American College of Rheumatology. https://www.rheumatology.org/Annual-Meeting. Accessed November 1, 2019.

2. Q&A with ACR President Paula Marchetta, MD, MBA. 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting: Daily News. https://www.acrdailynewslive.org/qa-with-acr-president-paula-marchetta-md-mba/. Accessed November 4, 2019.

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