Congress of Clinical Rheumatology-East to host more than 600 attendees in May

The Congress of Clinical Rheumatology-East is back for 2022 as it was in 2021: On-site and online.

“We will be in Florida,” 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. “But, at this point, I don’t think we will ever stop doing a virtual event as well.”

The meeting will run from May 12 to 15 at the Sandestin Hilton and Conference Center, in Destin, Florida. More than 600 attendees from 45 states and 11 countries are expected to be present.

McLain provided a rapid-fire rundown of highlights attendees can expect from this year’s program, starting with the North American Young Rheumatology Investigators Forum, or NYRIF, on Wednesday, May 11.

“Janet Pope, MD, of the University of Western Ontario, is going to take the lead on this program,” McLain said. “She is an amazing person and has so much energy, it is unbelievable.”

Others expected to mentor the young fellows as part of the NYRIF program include Arthur Kavanaugh, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, Elisabet Svenungsson, MD, of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Frederick Vivino, MD, from the University of Pennsylvania and Philip Seo, MD, of Johns Hopkins.

“The NYRIF program is a great experience for fellows and residents who are going into rheumatology,” McLain said. “It is important for us to encourage this next generation of professionals.”

Also on Wednesday will be a program of immunology for the rheumatologist led by Alan Epstein, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, with presentations by Leonard Calabrese, DO, and Adam Brown, MD, both of the Cleveland Clinic.

“Artie Kavanaugh will also give a talk on the immunology of psoriatic arthritis,” McLain said.

Thursday will feature Calabrese again, this time speaking on COVID-19 in rheumatology, according to McLain.

“We are starting to see a lot of flares,” he said. “They are doing well with their disease, but when they get COVID their joints swell and their disease activity increases.”

According to McLain, Calabrese’s program will be as up to date as possible.

“Len told me it will probably change the day before he gives the talk because the COVID situation changes so rapidly,” McLain said.

Pope will also return Thursday to discuss strategies for patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have failed multiple medications.

“As good as our medications are these days, some patients just do not seem to respond to anything,” McLain said.

Other repeat presenters Thursday include Kavanaugh, who will present on psoriatic arthritis and RA; Svenungsson, who will discuss lupus; and Seo, to offer “tips and tricks” in vasculitis.

“Dr. Seo is a particularly thoughtful and entertaining speaker,” McLain said.

Meanwhile, Vivino will return to talk about “pearls” in Sjogren’s syndrome.

“Fred just edited a book on the subject, which I would highly recommend,” McLain said.

Thursday will also feature posters, including those from the NYRIF researchers.

On Friday, in addition to further talks from Seo, Svenungsson and Vivino, Zsuzsanna McMahan, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins, will give discuss the pathogenesis and treatment of scleroderma.

“This is a particularly challenging patient population,” McLain said. “She will also give a talk on gastrointestinal involvement in scleroderma as she is an expert in this area.

“Also on Friday, Dr. Pope will give the year in review of rheumatology, where she reviews all of the new things that are going on,” he added. “People really enjoy this talk.”

Other notable presentations will include a talk on IgG4 disease from Zachary Wallace, MD, MSc, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discussion on gout from Hyon Choi, MD, of Harvard University, and a presentation on ankylosing spondylitis from Nigil Haroon, MD, PhD, of the Krembil Research Institute in Canada.

“That talk is about how current and novel therapeutic agents affect radiographic progression in spondylitis,” McLain said.

Dermatology for the rheumatologist, pseudogout, myositis and inflammatory myopathy also will be covered in the program, according to McLain.

Beyond the clinical presentations, there will also be a thieves’ market run by Epstein. “Rheumatologists and fellows can present a case in a piecemeal fashion and attendees can offer suggestions of what tests to run, or how to make a diagnosis,” McLain said. “It is a good way to discuss rare diseases that might not be discussed on the regular program.”

Promotional talks will also be offered during lunch and dinner breaks, as well as a golf tournament.

The keynote speaker for the banquet Saturday night will be Michael Schatman, PhD, a specialist in pain management at New York University.

“The talk will be about rebalancing our use of pain medications in the wake of the opioid crisis,” McLain said. “In some ways, we have gone from one extreme to the other, where we are hardly prescribing any pain medications at all.”

Spouses and children are allowed to attend the banquet on Saturday, McLain added.

“Our meeting is more family friendly, and we encourage spouses to attend the banquet,” he said.

It was for this reason that pain management was chosen as the topic for the keynote talk.

“Even if the family members are not doctors, everyone can understand pain,” McLain said.

For more information:

Congress of Clinical Rheumatology: https://www.ccrheumatology.com.