Even as the world burns, never stop getting excited by Australians presenting at ACR, says David Liew.
There is no question the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting is the peak stage for advancement in rheumatology. It always has been and, living most of our lives from afar, attendance has often been considered an important pilgrimage for Australian rheumatologists.
Having said that, it is understandable why many Australians have chosen to stay away this year. Uncertainty about safety has never encouraged participation, especially when the trip already comes with twenty-four hours of flying (each way) and a hefty price tag. The allure of top-level rheumatology (with a side of outlet shopping) may not be sufficient benefit for many to justify that kind of time, money and risk this year.
So, what to do? Many things might happen. Politics might rightfully consume the attention of the broader country and, in fact, the world. Specifically, for the medical community, current tenets of public health may immediately be called into question from the beginning, including the importance of vaccines. Perhaps rheumatological science is the short-term distraction we need, at a time when a visible emphasis on science is more important than ever.
All the more reason to cherish the Australians who will be at this year’s ACR Convergence in Washington DC, making their voices heard on the global rheumatology stage.
Eric Morand and the translational scientists who work with him have two exciting abstracts to present. One of them will be on the plenary stage on Sunday: identifying a therapeutic target to activate GILZ, an anti-inflammatory protein which enacts many of the benefits of glucocorticoids in SLE without the paired detriment. His group has worked on this area for many years, and this potential tipping point towards a therapy is definitely worth watching and celebrating.
Eric has also worked with Josh Ooi, who has worked on engineering regulatory T cells, and with Maureen Rischmueller, who has been collecting Sjogren’s specimens for years, to understand how engineered Ro60-specific Tregs might suppress Sjogren’s related inflammation.
Ranjeny Thomas’s group is presenting work on changes in citrullinated antigens in RA remission, made possible by collaboration within the A3BC network. It is of enormous encouragement that important translational science can occur in Australia thanks to collaborations across the country.
Clinical sciences will be well represented, too. Hans Nossent and Charles Inderjeeth’s group provides interesting data on the real and present risk of osteoporosis in modern RA, and where care might go well (and where it might go badly).
Xiaoqian Liu, an early career rheumatologist in David Hunter’s group, presents further work on supplements in osteoarthritis, and Alice Terrett, a rheumatology advanced trainee working with Catherine Hill and Sam Whittle in Adelaide, presents a nice scoping literature review detailing the gaps we still have in perioperative management of DMARDs. Many other Australian and international friends will have a platform to share their work, and there will be more than enough for us to take back to our clinics or to watch out for in the future.
There will be plenty more to get excited about at this meeting, and even as the world gets drawn into the consequences of politics, the economy, war, and peace, the important work of progressing rheumatology forward must continue, and provides enormous solace for those of us who just want better for our patients.
Sadly, I won’t be there. I will be at home, following as much as I can remotely, tending to the cries of my newborn son, half sad to be missing rheumatological advances and friends, and half glad to be safely at home.
David Liew is the ACR’s International Adviser for Australia, a rheumatologist in Melbourne and is deputy editor of Rheumatology Republic.
