This Friday marks day one of the Australian Rheumatology Association (ARA) annual scientific meeting.
Sydney will be host to the main hybrid event for local attendees at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour with streaming to satellite hubs in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart and New Zealand.
Held over three days, from 21-23 May, the meeting is set to cover four major themes: psoriatic arthritis, vascular inflammation/vasculopathy, imaging and ankle and hip regional rheumatology with the cross-cutting themes of treatment adherence and pain management.
A host of experts from across the country and around the world will come together to cover an exciting range of topics: Dr Rani Sinnathurai and Dr Dan Sumpton will chair a COVID-19 session where Associate Professor Patrick Charles will talk through COVID vaccine risks and benefits and Associate Professor Philip Robinson will discuss the implications for rheumatology patients.
Dr Ayano Kelly will look at medical adherence in rheumatology, Professor Ric Day will discuss adherence and therapeutic optimisation in gout and Professor Jennifer Martin will round out the session with a discussion on the the potential and pitfalls of cannabinoids in rheumatology.
In the osteoporosis session, Professor Jacqueline Center will look at difficult cases while in the concurrently running Paediatrics for Adults session Associate Professor John Collins will discuss chronic pain in teenagers.
International “virtual” guests include Professor Mikkel Østergaard from Denmark speaking on Saturday from 3.30pm about MRI in axial spondylarthritis and the role of imaging in psoriatic arthritis.
Running concurrently you can catch Dr Kanta Kumar from the UK who will be sharing techniques for clinicians to support patients from ethnic backgrounds. She will also be speaking on diversity, health beliefs and perceptions and the lessons learnt to improve clinical practice.
From the US Associate Professor Alexis Ogdie-Beatty will discuss whats new in state-of-the-art psoriatic arthritis management and Professor Dan Solomon will OPEN Sunday’s plenary session at 8am with a discussion about cardiovascular risk stratification in inflammatory arthritis. Plus many more international guests. And Professor Peter Merkel will provide an update on treatment of ANCA-Associated Vasculitis at the Saturday plenary session.
Plus there’s so much more. You can view the full program here.