Congress of Clinical Rheumatology Reloaded: West follows East with fresh topics, speakers
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Despite the ongoing setbacks presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Congress of Clinical Rheumatology – West will follow its East counterpart just a month later, offering a wholly new selection of “charismatic and engaging” speakers.
Now in its third year since expansion into east and west meetings, the Congress of Clinical Rheumatology has continued to uphold the priority that the two meetings have completely different agendas and sessions that are sure to generate significant discussion. Offered as a hybrid meeting, the Congress will again be hosted at San Diego’s Hotel Del Coronado on Sept. 18-21, while still extending virtual attendees the opportunity to hear every presentation and view every poster.
“This year, we will be going from Saturday through Tuesday,” David A. McLain, MD, executive director of the Alabama Society for the Rheumatic Diseases and symposium director of the Congress of Clinical Rheumatology, told Healio Rheumatology. “We think it will feel sort of like ACR, where they start on a weekend and go through the week.”
Like so many meetings from the past 18 months, it will be a hybrid event, with live and virtual presentations broadcast online for attendees around the country and around the world. As with the East meeting, every attendee, whether they are in the room or in their living room, will be able to hear every talk and see every poster.
McLain reported that he is as enthusiastic about the West meeting as he was about the East. He ran down some of the highlights of the agenda.
Michelle A. Petri, MD, MPH, will be one of the speakers covering lupus. “She is going to address some new therapies and what is coming along the pipeline,” McLain said.
Joan T. Merrill, MD, will also discuss lupus, according to McLain. “She has a vast amount of experience from her time at Oklahoma, so we are looking forward to what she has to say,” he said.
Frederick B. Vivino, MD, is set to address issues pertaining to Sjögren’s syndrome, while Megan E.B. Clowse, MD, will cover pregnancy in the rheumatic and autoimmune diseases.
One of the speakers who will address psoriatic arthritis is Philip J. Mease, MD. “Dr. Mease is always an engaging and entertaining speaker,” McLain said.
The topic of vasculitis will be covered by Peter Merkel, MD, MPH, while Laura K. Hummers, MD, will discuss scleroderma. “Dr. Hummers will focus on treating Raynaud’s phenomenon and digital ulcers, which are always difficult complications for rheumatologists to treat,” McLain said.
McLain is particularly enthusiastic about a presentation by Khosro Farhad, MD, on fibromyalgia. “This should be fascinating,” he said. “We always think in rheumatology that fibromyalgia is a neurological condition, so we are going to have a neurologist talk to us about it.”
The complicated topic of sarcoïdosis will be covered by Robert 0. Baughman, MD, PhD, past president of World Association of Sarcoïdosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders.
Jason R. Kolfenbach, MD, is set to cover two topics for the CCR – West audience. “Dr. Kolfenbach runs a rheumatology eye clinic, so he will give us an update on some of the eye disorders we see in rheumatology patients,” McLain said. “He will also give us some pearls in a potpourri kind of discussion where he covers a number of different disease states. It should be very helpful information that our audience can take straight to the clinic.”
The immunology course will be handled by a number of experts, including Mease, Merrill and Alan L. Epstein, MD. “There will be a 4-hour immunology session at CCR – West,” McLain said.
Overall, the meeting will offer 27.5 hours of CME credit. In addition to the review talks and abstract presentations, the fellow’s poster session will take place on Friday.
Beyond clinical topics, McLain highlighted the banquet, which will take place Monday night. Thom W. Rooke, MD, is slated to deliver the keynote talk on the discovery of cortisone. “This is another fascinating talk from a charismatic and engaging speaker,” McLain said.
Rooke is a professor of endocrinology at the Mayo Clinic, where Philip Hench, MD, a rheumatologist, and his colleague, Edward Kendall, MSc, PhD, won a Nobel Prize for the discovery of cortisone and its application to the treatment of RA in 1950. “This was the only time a rheumatologist has ever received a Nobel Prize,” McLain said.
As for COVID-19 protocols, McLain assured any prospective in-person attendees that all COVID-19-related rules in California will be in effect.
In addition, the Hotel Del Coronado is currently undergoing major renovations. But this has not deterred McLain’s anticipation for the meeting. “The location is still as beautiful as ever,” he said. “We look forward to seeing everyone there.”