ACR Journals On Air

Welcome to “ACR Journals on Air,” the ACR’s newest podcast series featuring interviews, commentary, and analysis on research from our three peer-reviewed journals. Join us each episode for engaging discussions with authors and independent experts about recently published studies, their implications for clinical care, and how they move the field of rheumatology forward. Whether it’s an expert analysis of a manuscript or deep dive with an author – our goal is the same – to understand the impact of the science and bring it from the bench to the bedside

Immunology for the Rheumatologist: Type I Interferon & Skin Disease 12/10/2024

Immunology for the Rheumatologist: Type I Interferon & Skin Disease In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Victoria Werth, a leading expert in dermatology and autoimmune diseases, to explore the study Dr. Werth delves into the complex immune mechanisms that drive skin manifestations in cutaneous lupus and dermatomyositis, two challenging autoimmune conditions. She explains how Type I interferons contribute to inflammation and tissue damage, and how understanding these pathways could pave the way for more targeted and effective treatment /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/34312440

Opioids and SARDs 11/26/2024

Opioids and SARDs In this episode, we explore the findings of a groundbreaking study analyzing opioid treatment trends for adults with and without systemic autoimmune and inflammatory rheumatic diseases (SARDs) from 2006 to 2019. , based on national data from the United States, sheds light on how individuals with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and ankylosing spondylitis are impacted by opioid use compared to the general population. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/34038891

ACR Convergence 2024: Sponsoring Women in Science 11/18/2024

ACR Convergence 2024: Sponsoring Women in Science As our weekend here in Washington D.C. draws to an end, we turn our spotlight on an important and timely conversation from the "Sponsoring Women in Science" session. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Elizabeth Volkmann and Dr. Carol Feghali-Bostwick to explore the challenges women face in advancing their careers in the sciences. Our guests share insights on how to address the barriers that often impede career development for women, discuss strategies for fostering support and mentorship, and highlight the importance of growing awareness around these critical issues. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/33849787

ACR Convergence 2024: New Mechanisms in Autoinflammatory Diseases 11/16/2024

ACR Convergence 2024: New Mechanisms in Autoinflammatory Diseases Get ready for an electrifying episode of Convergence 2024! We’re diving deep into the cutting-edge world of autoinflammatory diseases with renowned experts Drs. Grant Schulert and Arthur Kaser. Join us as they unravel the complexities of refractory and complicated systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA). Discover the revolutionary insights into SJIA at the single-cell level, explore the fascinating transcriptional diversity of normal and low-density granulocytes, and learn how groundbreaking approaches like UDON and SATAY-UDON are paving the way for novel disease programs. Don’t miss this chance to fuel your passion for innovation in medicine—tune in and ignite your curiosity! /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/33836277

DECT and Gout Remission 11/12/2024

DECT and Gout Remission This week we're joined by two leading experts in gout remissions, Dr. Nicola Dalbeth and Dr. Dansoa Tabi-Amponsah to explore the exciting advances in gout treatment, with a particular focus on Dual-Energy CT (DECT) imaging and its role in achieving gout remission. We dive into how DECT technology is transforming our ability to visualize urate crystals in joints, its implications for patient care, and the potential it holds for long-term gout management and remission. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/33861602

Immunology for the Rheumatologist: The Devil Is in the Details 10/29/2024

Immunology for the Rheumatologist: The Devil Is in the Details In another installment in the ongoing Arthritis & Rheumatology immunology series, guest David S. Pisetsky, MD, PhD, author of , takes us on a deep dive into research in SLE on how the combination of ANAs and immunologically active DNA can create new structures that can promote inflammation throughout the body as well as drive organ inflammation and damage. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/33615057

The SLEek Study 10/15/2024

The SLEek Study This week, our next guest, ACR Master Dr. Joan T. Merrill, joins us to discuss her latest study which endeavored to evaluate the efficacy and safety of upadacitinib and elsubrutinib in those with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Join us for an in-depth analysis of the SLEek Study, its findings regarding the efficacy of these medications and Dr. Merrill’s conclusions. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/33466152

Life Events and Autoimmune Disease 10/01/2024

Life Events and Autoimmune Disease For those with rheumatic disease, everyday challenges can mean an increase in disease flare. However, research is increasingly pointing to the idea that psychosocial stressors could even heighten the risk of developing rheumatic diseases. Dr. Christine Parks looked deeper into this among those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in her latest study /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/33220672

Pain in Psoriatic Arthritis 09/17/2024

Pain in Psoriatic Arthritis This week, we explore a groundbreaking study on the prevalence of fibromyalgia and widespread pain in patients with psoriatic arthritis with first author and ACR Master, Dr. Philip J. Mease. In his latest article, titled: , Dr. Mease explains what the presence of these conditions reveals about disease severity and how they converge. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/33042137

Self-Driving Research 09/03/2024

Self-Driving Research As the dawn of the Ai revolution marches on, scientific research and clinical medicine are adopting new and more streamlined ways to investigate and serve our patients. Today, we look at how Ai-driven, large language models (LLMs) might aid our field’s researchers in analyzing data from patient interviews. Dr. Bella Mehta, corresponding author of , joins us this week to give us her insights on this this quickly evolving technology and how it can be employed in both the research and clinical setting. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/32811462

More Than the Sum of its Parts 08/20/2024

More Than the Sum of its Parts Genetic conditions, inherited personality traits, brain chemistry...these are but a few of the well-known biological determinants of health and are but a small sample of factors that can determine how severe disease may affect a patient. But what role can social factors play in determining a patient’s health? What of the ‘Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)’? Dr. Shivani Garg set out to identify these factors and understand how they play a role in determining the severity of symptoms in those with Lupus Nephritis (LN). What she discovered was that not only do these factors play a significant role, but each one added has a multiplicative effect on the patient’s reported outcome! Dr. Garg is our guest today and her study, published in Arthritis Care & Rheumatology titled: will be the focus of our discussion. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/32606397

When Can We Wean Remission Maintenance Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis? 08/06/2024

When Can We Wean Remission Maintenance Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis? The process of weaning our patients off biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (b-DMARD) therapy is not unfamiliar in our clinics. However, when attending to our patients, many complications and questions arise. Specific guidance is needed, but where do we turn? Thankfully, our latest guest, Dr. Paul Emery, may have some answers. His latest study, attempted to “identify predictors of flare in patients in stable b-DMARD–induced clinical remission”. Let’s dive in together and see what he and his team have found! /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/32387327

Calprotectin in Antiphospholipid Syndrome 07/23/2024

Calprotectin in Antiphospholipid Syndrome To better understand the mechanisms that drive antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), Dr. Yu Zuo and his team, evaluated the presence of circulating calprotectin (cCLP) to detect any clinical associations or even the mechanistic role among a cohort of primary APS and aPL-positive patients. Dr. Zuo sits down with us this week to discuss whether calprotectin can be a functional biomarker for those with APS thrombocytopenia and what the future holds for this study’s conclusions. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/32203652

The Quest for Prevention in Autoimmune Disease 07/09/2024

The Quest for Prevention in Autoimmune Disease Benjamin Franklin once said: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. This week, we have the opportunity to see this realized in a recent clinical study entitled, . Our guest is the study’s first author, Dr. Karen Costenbader. She explains the results of this research, which suggests Vitamin D and marine n-3 fatty acids play a significant role in preventing autoimmune disease! /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/32024027

What Came First 06/25/2024

What Came First Caring for our patients means reducing symptoms and occurrences of flare-ups. However, caring for their whole self means a watchful eye on how chronic disease symptoms impact their daily life and mental health. Discovering patterns between depression and anxiety and such chronic diseases, like ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, was the focus of Dr. Alyssa Howren’s latest study. Today, we take a look at this study, titled: and try to disentangle the web of disease-related depression and anxiety /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/31840522

History Matters 06/11/2024

History Matters When disease strikes, time becomes a critical resource our patients cannot afford to waste. For those with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), an inordinate amount of time often goes by before a proper diagnosis is made, resulting in delays for crucial treatments to be rendered. The reasons for this delay in diagnosis, particularly among those with axSpA are diverse, complicated and not well-understood. Our guest, Dr. Gregory McDermott, attempted to better understand this diagnostic delay with his study: in hopes that we may begin answering these challenges with solutions. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/31653402

The RENEW Study in Scleroderma 05/28/2024

The RENEW Study in Scleroderma Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a painful and debilitating disease that our patients suffer from. However, a newly published study has concluded that there are some self-management interventions patients can engage with that have shown to improve fatigue, particularly for those newly diagnosed with SSc. Today, we review the procedures, interventions, results and conclusions of this study, titled: along with two of its authors, Dr. Susan L Murphy and Ms. Mary Alore, and how your patients can benefit from its lessons. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/31454067

Is There an App for That? 05/14/2024

Is There an App for That? As the need and demand for quality care increases, time in clinic needs to become more efficient. Working smarter, not harder, is a daily challenge for all in our field. With mobile technology streamlining so much and improvements in patient reported outcome (PRO) collection among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) needed, it had Dr. Daniel Solomon asking “...is there an app for that?”. Today, we review the study , recently published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. Our guest, Dr. Daniel Solomon, is our guest and the study’s first author. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/31232247

Protecting Against Uveitis in Axial Spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) 04/30/2024

Protecting Against Uveitis in Axial Spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) Recent research indicates that those who suffer from AxSpA may have some hope in protecting against events of Uveitis! Dr. Katie Bechman, first author explains her team’s research findings and how they came to this exciting conclusion! /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/31004243

History of Interferon (Immunology for the Rheumatologist) 04/16/2024

History of Interferon (Immunology for the Rheumatologist) “If I have seen further, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants” Sir Isaac Newton famously stated in a letter to polymath scientist, Robert Hooke back in 1675. Today, Dr. Mary Crow, MD, aides Arthritis & Rheumatology launch a , for rheumatologists. She is the co-author of the article In this episode, we stand with Dr. Crow to look back at the achievements made by brilliant minds in interferon research and analyze the unbroken line their advancements in rheumatology have led to today’s discoveries, with more to com /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/30697908

The Scleroderma Cancer Connection 04/02/2024

The Scleroderma Cancer Connection Is there an increased risk of cancer once a patient has Scleroderma? If so, what is the risk and how does one go about showing this? Dr. Ami A Shah, Director of the Division of Rheumatology at Johns Hopkins sits down with us to explain those answers. We go over the methods, results and conclusions of the recent study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. Afterward, Dr. Shah shares with us her journey to becoming a physician-scientist and mentoring others in Scleroderma research through a K24 grant. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/30501758

Gut Feelings 03/19/2024

Gut Feelings Welcome back to “Journals”! Our topic of discussion today comes from the manuscript and our guest today is the study’s first author, Dr. Zsuzsanna McMahan. The study recognizes that the enteric nervous system (ENS) regulates the gastrointestinal (GI) function, which is commonly impaired in those who suffer from systemic sclerosis (SSc). Dr. McMahan and her team’s objective for this study was “to identify novel anti-ENS autoantibodies with an aim to clinically phenotype SSc GI dysfunction”. We sit down with Dr. McMahan and discuss the study’s methods and discoveries. Plus, her experience transitioning from a junior to an independent investigator and what advice she can offer our young listeners for the journey along the way. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/30240968

B-Cells in Sjogren's Syndrome 03/05/2024

B-Cells in Sjogren's Syndrome Dr. Tobit Steinmetz is our guest this week, author of the manuscript recently published in “Arthritis and Rheumatology” titled: Dr. Steinmetz and his team endeavored to better understand the hyperactivity observed among B cells, which play a major role in Primary Sjogren’s Syndrome (SS). To do this, he and the team examined the quantity, maturity and inflammatory properties of Antibody Secreting Cells (ASCs) in the B cell effector branch, which became the focus of the study. Tune in to hear how this was done, what their observations and conclusions were plus, Dr. Steinmetz’s insights for those looking to enter a postdoctoral position! /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/30070668

Global Perspective on COVID 19 02/20/2024

Global Perspective on COVID 19 After a major event, it’s important to take stock of the causes of such an event, but just as important, on the reactions to it. No other event has challenged humanity in recent memory like COVID-19. Today we discuss the pandemic in relationship to its impact on those who suffer with rheumatic disease and examine the global response. Our guest is Dr. Evelyn Hsieh, MD, PhD, the first author of the paper: , which was recently published in Arthritis Care & Research. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/29188393

The Power of the Negative Study 02/06/2024

The Power of the Negative Study Sometimes, we learn more from what isn’t achieved than when we achieve an expected result. Such is the case for our next guest, Dr. David R. Jayne, who is the first author of , a study designed to characterize a dose-response relationship between an anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody known as Bi 655064 and complete renal response (CRR) in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN). Dr. Jayne and his research team’s study may not have shown this dose-response relationship, but what was gained along the way surely shows the power of the negative study! /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/29188143

Bad for the Bones 01/23/2024

Bad for the Bones Knowing that glucocorticoids significantly increase the risk of fractures and is the most common cause of secondary osteoporosis, the use of the steroid has always been viewed as a doubled edged sword and “Bad for the Bones”. This week, we welcome Dr. Giovanni Adami, first author of , whose goal for this study was to assess if a “safe” dose of glucocorticoids exists, with an attention focus on those with inflammatory rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases (iRMDs) to determine if a low enough dose of glucocorticoids can still reduce inflammatory burden and yet significantly reduce expected risk of fracture. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/29188023

Reimagining ZOOM Interviews 01/09/2024

Reimagining ZOOM Interviews The pandemic has changed much in our world—from the way we work, to the way we shop, and even the way we learn. Rheumatology wasn’t immune from such changes and when medical institutions needed to adjust their practices to accommodate a changing world around them, the process by which fellowship interviews were conducted needed to change as well. Thus, a shift to the video communication platform Zoom was made. Now, as the pioneering cohorts of the new Zoom matching process graduate, we are joined by Bharat Kumar, MD, MME, FACP, RhMSUS. Dr. Kumar has been doing a lot of research on what went well, what didn’t, and what merits rethinking. Dr. Kumar is the first author of the manuscript . /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/29187243

Complement 12/12/2023

Complement Our next guest, Dr. Paul Monach, reviews “”, focusing on its application in the clinical setting. In his work, Dr. Monach presents a typical case with a broad differential diagnosis, then provides an overview of the complement system along with clinical diseases with complement-driven mechanisms. Dr. Shanmugam reviews this manuscript published in Arthritis & Rheumatology plus an analysis of the laboratory tests. Later in the show, Dr. Monach gives us his insights on how he combines his clinical work with his translational work in immunology and acts Chief of Immunology at the VA in Boston, Massachusetts! /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/28975108

A Noble Goal 11/28/2023

A Noble Goal End-stage renal disease is a dangerous reality for those who suffer from Lupus Nephritis (LN), despite improvements in immunosuppressive therapy in the last 20 years. Our next guest, Dr. Brad H Rovin, MD, FACP, FASN, is the first author of the manuscript “” which was recently published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. This study was a post hoc analysis of the NOBILITY trial and was conducted to assess kidney-related outcomes in patients using Obinutuzumab. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/28807743

Congenital Heart Block 11/14/2023

Congenital Heart Block This week on ‘Journals’, we turn our attention to a rare but challenging and heart-breaking complication of rheumatic disease, Congenital Heart Block. Sir Deryck and Lady Va Maughan Professor of Rheumatology and Director of the Division of Rheumatology at New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Jill Buyon joins us today to present her latest research “”. /episode/index/show/37582ff8-56e7-4060-8a02-66b4827823df/id/28563518

ACR Journals On Air

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