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New technology, disease developments focus of annual AACE meeting
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“Get inspired” is the theme for this year’s annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, and organizers have put together a forward-looking program that will highlight high-tech innovations and cutting-edge research, as well as a special focus on guidance for early-career endocrinologists.
The AACE 28th Annual Scientific and Clinical Congress will bring approximately 2,000 attendees from 34 countries to the Los Angeles Convention Center from Wednesday to Sunday to hear from experts in the field and connect with peers. This year’s schedule includes more than 80 sessions, 90 national and international speakers and more than 500 posters over 5 days, along with pre-congress sessions, special symposia and meet-the-expert events.
“All meetings have their niche, but this meeting is planned by physicians for physicians,” Susan Samson, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FACE, an Endocrine Today Editorial Board Member who is associate professor in the department of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and program chair for the AACE annual meeting, told Endocrine Today. “We had the involvement of at least 40 practicing clinical physicians talking about what they need to hear, and we tried to translate that as best we could into our sessions and make sure we are covering all aspects of endocrine disorders.”
Highlights from this year’s meeting program include the following:
- Pre-congress events taking place Wednesday will feature sessions on endocrine head/neck ultrasound, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and lipid management for high-risk patients, mastering osteoporosis and the popular diabetes technology workshop.
- Fellow-in-training events featuring a luncheon for the Association of Program Directors in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism; an “education for educators” workshop; a fellows-in-training breakfast; and a young physician symposium, all taking place throughout the day on Friday.
“As always, we want to help our fellow trainees transition into their early careers,” Samson said. “We have an exciting fellow-in-training in-depth symposium in two parts. The first 2 hours will explore how the new physician fits into the current economics of our health care system. For the second half, we have a panel of endocrinologists in academics and private practice, to give attendees advice on the type of career they might want to shape for themselves.”
- A keynote address from Kevin Pho, MD, the founder of kevinmd.com and co-author of Establishing, Managing, and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices, focusing on social media and the physician.
“For this keynote we are moving a little bit away from the science and focusing more on how physicians interact with social media and how that can improve our communication with patients,” Samson said. “There will also be an additional opportunity to interact with him during a meet-up in the exhibit hall.”
- Plenary speakers including Shlomo Melmed, MD, ChB, FRCP, MACP, executive vice president and dean of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, who will speak about treatments for Cushing’s disease; Felicia Cosman, MD, professor of medicine at Columbia University, who will discuss new osteoporosis treatments; and Kevan C. Herold, MD, PhD, professor of immunobiology and medicine at Yale University, who will discuss the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors and endocrinopathies.
“As endocrinologists, we are being more exposed to patients treated by oncology with so-called immune checkpoint inhibitors,” Samson said. “We are finding a number of endocrinopathies are occurring. They are treatable, but we wanted to give our attendees an overview of what we need to look for clinically and the science behind why this is occurring.”
- The sold-out annual Women’s Leadership Dinner, taking place Friday from 7:30 to 9 p.m., featuring speaker Julie Silver, MD, associate professor and associate chair in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School, discussing how to promote women leaders in medicine. The evening will be dedicated to the late Etie Moghissi MD, a long-time promoter of women’s leadership events with AACE.
Also new this year, all posters have gone electronic, Samson said, and will be displayed on monitors in the exhibit hall and on the AACE app, which is available for download in the Apple and Google Play stores.
“There will be no poster boards this year,” Samson said. “It is important that attendees download the app.”
The Endocrine Today and Healio.com staff will provide coverage live from AACE 2019, including reports on the sessions, on-site video interviews and much more. For more information on the AACE agenda and registration, visit www.am.aace.com. – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: Samson is program chair for the AACE annual meeting.