Samantha C. Shapiro, MD, is a clinician educator who practices telerheumatology and writes for both medical and lay audiences. She earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. In 2018, she completed her internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Fresh out of training, she founded the Division of Rheumatology at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin, where she remains an affiliate faculty member. In September 2021, she left her full-time academic position to pursue her main passions: clinical education, patient education, advocacy and international travel. She works with various telehealth services to improve access to rheumatologic care. She educates patients and physicians as a medical writer and enjoys writing for both lay and medical audiences. She is an active member of the ACR, volunteering her time to the ACR’s Insurance Subcommittee.
PHILADELPHIA—Despite a large and ever-growing number of therapeutic options for our patients with psoriatic disease, it is not uncommon for us come across scenarios in which a patient’s response to therapy does not match our expectations and our shared goals for treatment. We all have those patients—the ones whose joints improve with one drug, but…
PHILADELPHIA—Treat to target (T2T) is a common phrase in rheumatology these days—and a welcome one.1 Many of us are familiar with what T2T means in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but we may be less sure of its meaning in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). At ACR Convergence 2022, Alexis Ogdie, MD, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology, University of…
Despite an expanding armamentarium of disease-modifying treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), some patients with RA remain symptomatic.1 Current treatment guidelines from both the ACR and the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) recommend treat-to-target strategies to achieve remission or low disease activity, and patients want to feel better.2,3 So how can we best help…
A 60-year-old Black woman with a history of stage 3 chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension presented with a 12-month history of asymmetric polyarthritis of the wrists, metacarpophalangeal (MCP), proximal interphalangeal (PIP), metatarsophalangeal (MTP) and knee joints. The review of systems was unremarkable. She denied oral ulcers, rashes, alopecia, or a history of…
Thomas Dörner, MD, reviewed the current state of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) management, providing updates on novel therapies and insights into the pathogenesis of SLE.
Although progress has been made in recent years, rheumatologists still have a lot of questions regarding best management practices for antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). During a session of EULAR 2022, Ricard Cervera, MD, PhD, described a holistic approach.
As a dermatologist/internist with a career-long subspecialty interest in the cutaneous manifestations of the rheumatic diseases, I found the case of refractory acute cutaneous lupus by Samantha C. Shapiro, MD, in the June 2022 issue of The Rheumatologist intriguing in several ways, and I felt my perspectives on this case might provide additional educational value…
ORLANDO—Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the past two years have been exciting for rheumatology providers and patients. We’ve seen the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approve new therapies and expand indications for established drugs. At the 2022 ACR Education Exchange, Jeffrey Curtis, MD, MS, MPH, Marguerite Jones Harbert-Gene Ball Endowed professor of medicine, Division of…
Glucocorticoids remain a prominent part of care for many patients with SLE but can have toxic side effects; this EULAR 2022 session discussed one institution’s approach to lower the dosage.
At this EULAR 2022 session, one expert explains why he believes refractory gout is caused by mismanagement and discussed ways around treatment obstacles.