2018 Evelyn V. Hess Award The Evelyn V. Hess Award is given annually to recognize the exceptional contributions of a clinical or basic researcher whose body of work has advanced the understanding of the science of lupus treatment. At a reception during the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Chicago, the Lupus Foundation of America presented…
CHICAGO—The pre-clinical rheumatology curriculum at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, used to consist mainly of portions of a musculoskeletal course, with up to only three instructional hours, and not always with a rheumatologist in the room with students. Systemic autoimmune diseases were never fully discussed in any of the…
CHICAGO—The path to the discovery of cortisone—a top-selling, important drug, with dozens of indications—was complicated by failure, false moves, desperation and obsession. The tale, recounted in the Philip Hench, MD, Memorial Lecture: Crossroads of History & Hope: Discovery & First Use of Cortisone for RA at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in October, is an…
The ACR–Indian Rheumatology Association (IRA) International Fellows Exchange Program was developed in 2016 to foster scientific collaboration between members of the ACR and junior rheumatologists representing the IRA. I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in this exchange initiative, and I can’t thank these two organizations enough for working together to provide this…
A study in mice suggests that targeting peptidyl arginine deiminases in lupus patients may have a therapeutic role in T cell-mediated diseases, affecting innate and adaptive immunity, as well as modulating dysregulated toll-like receptor 7-dependent immune responses…
CHICAGO—When it comes to correctly diagnosing joint pain in children, “things take time,” said Michael L. Miller, MD, quoting Danish physicist and poet Piet Hein. Children with pain but normal physical examinations may need to return to the clinic for repeat evaluation over several months. “I often tell parents that laboratory tests may help in…
“It is with a profoundly heavy heart that I share with you the sad news that we have lost one of our most beloved leaders at NIH. Steve Katz, MD, PhD, the long-time director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), died early this morning after suffering a catastrophic stroke….
The Division of Rheumatology and Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Charleston, was formally established in 1974 by its first division chief, E. Carwile LeRoy, MD. Twenty-one years later, when Richard M. Silver, MD, assumed leadership, the division had acquired international renown for its scleroderma research. Now, having just retired as division…
An analysis of treat-to-target therapy assessing two ultrasound definitions of remission for patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has concluded that using ultrasound remission as a target was not associated with better long-term outcomes for RA patients.1 Compared with MRI, ultrasound costs less, is more accessible and offers the ability to scan more joints in…
CHICAGO—ACR leaders described a series of looming legislative and regulatory threats to rheumatologists and their patients—including the proposed collapsing of evaluation and management (E/M) coding and potential changes to step therapy rules—and urged everyone in the field to make their voices heard to quash the proposals. They also recounted recent victories in the policy realm…