Expert Interviews

April 05, 2021

This week, Rheumatology Network sat down with Daniel J. Lovell, MD, MPH, to discuss his study, “Prevalence of autoimmune diseases and other associated conditions in children and young adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.”

March 19, 2021

In this video, Jack March, a physiotherapist specializing in rheumatology, demonstrates exercises for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) relief. He discusses providing exercises for patients, how to prescribe them, reasons to get patients to exercise, and the many benefits that come from engaging in a workout routine.

March 17, 2021

This week, Rheumatology Network sat down to interview S. Louis Bridges, MD, PhD, to highlight the availability of funds for projects exploring telehealth. Bridges is the President of the Rheumatology Research Foundation, as well as Physician-in-Chief and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), as well as Chief of the Division of Rheumatology at HSS and Weill Cornell College of Medicine.

March 15, 2021

Pegloticase in conjunction with immunomodulator combination therapy significantly increased pegloticase responder rates when compared with pegloticase monotherapy for patients with uncontrolled or refractory gout, according to a study. This week, Rheumatology Network interviewed lead investigator, Robert Keenan, MD, to discuss his findings.

March 05, 2021

Brian Skaggs, PhD, and Maureen McMahon, MD, sat down with Rheumatology Network to discuss the results of their longitudinal study, “A Panel of Biomarkers Associates With Increased Risk for Cardiovascular Events in Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.”

February 22, 2021

Rheumatology Network sat down with Liana Fraenkel, MD, MPH, the lead investigator for the study: OPEX: Development of a novel overall patient experience measure to facilitate interpretation of comparison effectiveness studies. In partnership with CreakyJoints, Fraenkel is a rheumatologist at Berkshire Medical Center and Director of Patient Centered Population Health Research.

February 19, 2021

Rheumatology Network sat down for an interview with Benjamin Nowell, PhD, in partnership with CreakyJoints, to discuss his 2 most recent studies. Nowell is the Director of Patient-Centered Research at CreakyJoints, part of the Global Healthy Living Foundation.

February 17, 2021

This week, we sat down with Anna Postolova, MD, MPH, to discuss her presentations for the Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposium, which ran from February 10th through the 13th. Postolova is a rheumatologist and allergist at Menlo Medical Stanford Healthcare. She presented her findings on Beyond the Package Insert: IV IG – History, Data and Rheumatologic Considerations and Outside the Box: Hot topics in Allergy / Immunology for the Rheumatologist. During our interview, she gives us an overview on the history of intravenous immunoglobulin treatment and how rheumatologists can use allergy and immunology when treating patients with rheumatic diseases.

February 12, 2021

Rheumatology Network sat down for an interview with Glenn Haugeberg, MD, PhD, from Sørlandet Hospital, in Norway, to discuss his presentations for the Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposium. He will be presenting his findings on Biosimilars: Review and Real-World Experience and Osteoimmunology: Osteoporosis and Beyond.

February 11, 2021

Rheumatology Network interviewed Roy Fleischmann, MD, to discuss his presentations for the Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposium. He is presenting his findings on Combination Therapy in Rheumatology and Rheumatology 2020: A Year in Review of Novel Therapies.

February 10, 2021

This week we sat down for an interview with Arthur Kavanaugh, MD, to discuss his presentations for the Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposium. He is currently the chairman for the 2021 conference. Kavanaugh is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Innovative Therapy at UC San Diego. He will be presenting his findings on Rheumatology 2020: A Year in Review for rheumatoid arthritis, spondylarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis. We discuss what sets RWCS apart from other conferences and the exciting content that participants can expect.

February 02, 2021

This week, we sat down for an interview with Alice Fike, MS, NP, from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), to discuss her study titled “Risk factors for COVID-19 and rheumatic disease flare in a US cohort of Latino patients.” The primary objective of this retrospective study was to understand why Latino patients were being disproportionately affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

January 29, 2021

This week, we sat down for an interview with April Jorge, MD, to discuss the findings of her study, “Temporal trends and severe COVID-19 outcomes in patients with rheumatic disease,” and what this may mean for patients with rheumatic disease moving forward in the pandemic.

December 21, 2020

Puja Khanna MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, discusses a presentation she gave at the American College of Rheumatology Convergence 2020 on reducing the immunogenicity of pegloticase and improving its efficacy.

December 04, 2020

In today's interview, our focus is on patient perspectives. During the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting last month, Juana Mata shared her story of a life living with lupus. Getting an accurate diagnosis wasn't easy, but eventually she found a doctor and treatment that's working for her. In today's interview, Kim Gorgens, a psychologist and Rheumatology Network board member interviews Juana and her sister, Estela, who describe turning a lupus diagnosis into a positive force for change through advocacy. The sisters have created a non-profit group called Looms for Lupus in which they embrace art therapy to relieve stress.

December 03, 2020

In rheumatoid arthritis, physician scientists are beginning to zero in on personalized medicine. In this interview, Dr. Leslie R. Harrold, chief scientific officer of Corrona, and a University of Massachusetts associate professor, summarizes a study she recently presented at ACR 2020 in which she describes biomarkers and patient characteristics she and her team have identified as taking us one step closer to precision medicine.

November 25, 2020

In today's issue of Rheumatology Network, we introduce The Concoff Method, a new column by Andrew Concoff, M.D., a rheumatologist who serves as executive vice president and chief value medical officer of United Rheumatology. Over the course of the next year, Dr. Concoff will publish columns that address sports medicine, value in rheumatology and managing a medical practice in the era of COVID-19. In this inaugural issue of the column, he covers the interface between sports medicine and rheumatology.

November 25, 2020

In this interview, Jeffrey Curtis, M.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, addresses osteoporosis in men. It's more common than physicians may realize. "It is often misconstrued as a disease that mainly, if not only, effects Caucasian women, which is not the case,” he said.

November 25, 2020

Dr. Christopher Parker, a rheumatologist with The Austin Diagnostic Clinic in Austin, Texas, reviews the following case of a women with rheumatoid arthritis interested in receiving a JAK inhibitor.

November 20, 2020

The annual direct costs for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are estimated to range from $12,509-$36,053. A late diagnosis costs even more and one in 10 new RA cases are usually diagnosed late. In this presentation, Kathryn Johnson, RPh, of CVS Health breaks down the numbers.