When Christopher Ritchlin, MD, MPH, isn’t teaching students, residents and fellows at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), treating patients or conducting medical research in his lab, he’s monitoring the health of another sort of patient—honeybees. For the past four years. Dr. Ritchlin, professor and chief of allergy, immunology and rheumatology at URMC, has…
Etanercept Submitted for Chronic, Severe Plaque Psoriasis in Children The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the supplemental Biologics License Application for etanercept (Enbrel) for treating pediatric patients with chronic, severe plaque psoriasis.1 The application was submitted in early January 2016 and is based on results of a one-year Phase 3 study with…
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) recognized the 50th anniversary of the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ARHP) during the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting this past November in San Francisco. The University of Arizona Arthritis Center followed up with a reception in Tucson to honor past presidents of the ARHP. The Tucson area has the highest…
An interdisciplinary and collaborative environment is a critical factor for the advancement of basic science and clinical research in the academic environment, says William J. Koopman, MD, former director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB’s) Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology. And in 1977, when he was being recruited by Division Director J….
Medicine has traditionally been an apprenticeship model. The most elemental and constructive method of passing on knowledge is the mentor–mentee relational experience. Mentorship encompasses not only the role of teacher, but also that of coach, role model, advisor and confidante. Matthew J. Koster, MD, rheumatology fellow and instructor in medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., can…
Forty-five years ago, a computer engineer in Boston sent an electronic message between two computers some 10 feet apart. It took another 10 years or so before the electronic mail message was dubbed email—a term now, perhaps, more ubiquitous than any other in the lexicon of modern communications. Despite the seemingly definitive place email communication…
With limited time to spend away from your practice, you can still have an impact on issues important to Advancing Rheumatology! Below are several ways to have your voice heard, without ever leaving town. Set Up a Local Meeting with Your Elected Officials Every member of Congress has at least one local office in the…
More than 10 years ago, New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman opined an old-world perspective that the world is, in fact, flat. In an article published on April 3, 2005, Mr. Friedman contended that “Individuals must, and can, now ask: Where do I fit into the global competition and opportunities of the day, and how…
After 60 years as a rheumatologist, Richard Panush, MD, has a unique perspective on the future of medical education, innovation and equality within our healthcare system. For all the recent changes and those to come, he says, “Medicine and rheumatology will be just fine—if not better.”
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Aggregated results from three studies of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis show that Eli Lilly’s injectable drug ixekizumab can completely resolve the plaques in about one third of cases after 12 weeks of treatment. And with continued therapy every four weeks, at least half maintained or attained complete resolution of…