2022 ARA ASM convenor Associate Professor Helen Keen
The 2022 ARA Annual Scientific Meeting will bring back popular sessions such as The Year in Review and Clinical Grand Rounds in a hybrid format that provides positives for all members, personalities and individual circumstances.
Convenor of the meeting Associate Professor Helen Keen, from WA, told the limbic the hybrid model was the best solution this year in terms of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So there are definitely people who are keen to engage with their peers and are really excited about socialising and the dinners in each state. And then there are other people who really appreciated the convenience of being able to log in online.”
Whether ARA members are online or in person at satellite hubs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart and Auckland, the program provides a wealth of local and international speakers across a broad range of research, clinical and professional topics.
Associate Professor Keen said fierce protection of WA borders during the pandemic meant the COVID-19 session was particularly topical for her and her local colleagues (Fri, 11.10 am).
The speakers include US guest Dr Cassandra Calabrese on antiviral therapy, ATAGI’s Professor Chris Blyth on vaccine efficacy in immunosuppressed patients, and Associate Professor Phil Robinson with the latest from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance.
Also topical, given the recent Parliamentary Inquiry into Childhood Rheumatic Diseases is a paediatrics session including international guest Professor Seza Ozen (Turkey) on vasculitis and Dr William Renton (WA) on living guidelines (Fri, 2 pm).
In other international guests, Associate Professor Keen highlighted presentations from Associate Professor Lisa Christopher-Stine from the US group who described the antibodies associated with myositis (Sat, 9 am and 3.45 pm).
“She’s got a great [research] pedigree but she often speaks very practically about clinical applications and how we should manage our patients. So I think that will be quite useful to the community of rheumatologists.”
Associate Professor Keen also flagged that the emerging therapies session includes Professor Georg Schett (Germany), whose group has recently published on using CAR-T therapy to treat lupus, and Professor Ranjeny Thomas (Queensland) on therapeutic tolerance for autoimmune disease.
She said the 2022 ARA ASM features a fairly strong allied health program including the Rheumatology Health Professionals Special Interest Group (RHPSIG) Year in Review, a session on building multidisciplinary capacity, and the RHPSIG free papers session.
Associate Professor Keen said the popular Clinical Grand Rounds will be led by Professor Michelle Leech and Dr David Massasso so expect it to be ‘full of wit and repartee’ (Sun, 1.45 pm).
In a free papers session, ARA president Professor Catherine Hill will present results from the 2021 Workforce Survey (Sat, 2 pm).
“Our role is to advocate for rheumatologists and people with musculoskeletal disorders so before we can work towards developing policy and lobbying, we need to know where we are at, our strengths and weaknesses,” Associate Professor Keen said.
“The result from this survey will really define where our workforce is at the moment and what people’s plans are in the near future so they can be mapped against the population needs.”
Professor Hill will also be presenting the ARA Distinguished Service Medal, and other awards and prizes in the concluding session (Sun, 3.15 pm).
Other sessions to note include equity in access to health care (Fri, 2 pm), engaging consumers in research and guideline development (Sat, 11 am), and comorbidities in inflammatory disorders (Sun, 10.45 am).
The 2022 ARA ASM will be held 20–22 May.