President’s Perspective: ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting Heads to Boston in November

Dr. Flood

This year will mark my 31st year of attending the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. As I think back over the education, networking, professional development and friendships forged at each of these meetings, I am more convinced than ever that the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting is the meeting to Advance Rheumatology!

Approaching the ACR’s Annual Meeting this November, I am excited to welcome more than 14,000 attendees from more than 100 countries to Boston, and I can’t imagine a better place to learn, connect, engage and see. Under the leadership of Chester “Chet” V. Oddis, MD, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburg, Pa., and chair of the ACR’s Annual Meeting Planning Committee (AMPC), the AMPC has created a comprehensive program that will showcase cutting-edge and timely topics in clinical and basic science of rheumatologic care, as well as the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases and their co-morbidities.

Planning this meeting year after year takes time and a great deal of passion, and I applaud the AMPC for what is already shaping up to be an excellent meeting. In January, I had the opportunity to watch the ballet of choreographing the Annual Meeting. Fifty-six of our colleagues gave a weekend of their time, as well as time for pre- and post-meeting conference calls, to create a program that allows every attendee to maximize their learning in a compact number of days.

This meeting is the best place to learn, connect, engage and see. As I start to think about my meeting schedule this year, I want to share with you what I think are some of the best new opportunities to do each of these things. I’m sure you’ll create your own list as you envision your Annual Meeting, but these opportunities are a great place to start your planning.

Learn

The ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting leads with education. It always has, and I hope it always will. In my mind, the hundreds of educational opportunities from which to choose stand out as the top reasons for attending each year.

Traditional & Modern Opening Lectures—If you’re looking for a traditional keynote, Leroy Hood, MD, PhD, president of the Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Wash., and a pioneer in the systems approach to biology and medicine, will give an opening lecture on an integrative approach to personalized medicine.

If you are a fan of Ted Talks, you’ll want to attend the ARHP’s opening session, which is a Ted-style opening lecture that will cover a number of topics, such as innovation in rheumatology research, cures in severe autoimmune disease and distinguishing intrinsic worth to patients and extrinsic value to the healthcare system.