September 2025

RHEUMATOLOGY

NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE RHEUMATOLOGY AT ACR CONVERGENCE 2025

The Division of Rheumatology at Northwestern Medicine is proud to be represented by a lineup of exceptional leaders at the annual convergence meeting, taking place October 24 through 29. As leaders in research and treatment of rheumatic diseases, our expert faculty will highlight some of our latest findings. 
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Discover the exciting topics our faculty will be present on at sessions throughout the meeting and visit us at Booth 2127-NP.
Laura Arneson, MD

An Updated Needs Assessment for the Virtual Rheumatology Program for Fellows in Training (V-FIT) (Poster)
Tuesday, October 28
10:00 – 11:30 am
​Poster preview:​
  • The ACR developed V-FIT, a virtual lecture series for rheumatology fellows, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study assessed how V-FIT can evolve to fit fellowship programs' needs in the post-pandemic era. 
  • Fellows and program directors continue to utilize V-FIT, particularly valuing it for access to subspecialty experts. They expressed interest in future sessions that are ≤30 minutes, incorporate active learning methods, and support board review.
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Swipe Right on Rheumatology: Engaging Learners and Creating Community in the Digital Age
Tuesday, October 28
2:30 – 3:30 pm 
Burcu Aydemir, PhD

Association between Positive Emotions and Physical Function in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients (Poster)
​Monday, October 27
10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Irene Blanco, MD, MS

Breaking Barriers: Advancing LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in Rheumatology Practice and Research
Monday, October 27
2:30 – 3:30 pm
Carla M. Cuda, PhD

Basic Science: PhDs Doing Research in Clinical Departments
Sunday, October 26
4:00 – 5:00 pm

From Omics to Action: Redefining the Immune Landscape in RA Joint
Monday, October 27
10:00 – 11:30 am

Through the Looking Glass: Insights Into the Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Uveitis
Monday, October 27
10:00 – 11:30 am

Oral Antibiotic Treatment Reduces Anxiety in a Murine Model of Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Poster)
Monday, October 27
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Bypassing the 'Toll' Booth: NIAID-Supported Insights Into Alternative Nucleic Acid Sensing in Autoimmunity
Tuesday, October 28
10:00 – 11:30 am

​Disease Activity Independently Correlates with Cognitive Impairment in SLE (Poster)
Tuesday, October 28
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Mechanisms of Brain Fog: Lifting the Veil on Neuroinflammation in Long COVID
Wednesday, October 29
10:00 – 11:00 am 
Matthew Dapas, PhD

Polygenic risk of lupus is differentially associated with individual EHR-derived classification criteria (Poster)
Sunday, October 26
​10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Sex-associated changes to synovial macrophages in the aging joint (Poster)
​Tuesday, October 28
10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Anisha B. Dua, MD

Real World Steroid Burden, Treatment Patterns, and Rheumatologists' Perceptions on Advanced Therapy in Giant Cell Arteritis (Poster)
Sunday, October 26
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

ACR's Education Efforts for Rising Rheumatologists & Rheumatology Recruitment
Sunday, October 26
10:50 – 11:10 am

Panel Discussion
Sunday, October 26
11:10 am – 11:30 am

Tools for E-learning (Synchronous & Asynchronous)
Monday, October 27
10:05 – 10:15 am

Table-Based Workshops
Monday, October 27
10:35 – 10:45 am

Table Reports
Monday, October 27
10:45 – 10:55 am
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Refractory ANCA Vasculitis
Monday, October 27
3:00 – 4:00 pm
Brian Jaros, MD

From Delay to Damage: Changing the EGPA Trajectory With Early Diagnosis and Biologic Therapy
​Tuesday, October 28
5:30 – 7:30 pm 
Damini Jawaheer, PhD

Transcriptomic biomarkers of progression from undifferentiated arthritis to rheumatoid arthritis (Poster)
​Monday, October 27
10:30 am – 12:30 p
Jeremy Lavine, MD, PhD
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Retinal Perivascular Macrophages Regulate Immune Cell Infiltration During Neuroinflammation in Ocular Disease
Monday, October 27
10:30 – 11:00 am 
Yvonne Lee, MD

What's New in the Pharmacologic Treatment of Pain?
Tuesday, October 28
11:00 – 11:30 am 
Duncan Moore, MD

Abstract Sessions:
2475: GERD Severity, Proton Pump Inhibitor Use, and Longitudinal Forced Vital Capacity in the CONQUER Registry

1566: Factors Associated with Patient and Physician Global Assessments in Early Systemic Sclerosis

0883: Predictive Significance of Serum Proteins for the Course of Systemic Sclerosis-Related Interstitial Lung Disease in the Multicenter CONQUER Cohort

1582: Risk factors for incident digital ischemic complications in systemic sclerosis in the Collaborative National Quality and Efficacy Registry (CONQUER)

1555: Prevalence of Organ Involvement and Baseline Predictors of Disease Progression in Patients with Limited Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis: Insights from the CONQUER Database

2654: ​Discordance Between Patient and Physician Global Assessments in Early Systemic Sclerosis
Harris Perlman, PhD
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Tissue-Resident, Extravascular Ly6c- Monocytes Are Critical for Inflammation in the Synovium
Monday, October 27
10:00 – 10:30 am 
Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, DrPH

Creating an EHR Lupus Outreach Workbench to Address Care Gaps (Poster) 
​Sunday, October 26
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Direct and Indirect Costs Associated with Damage Accrual: Results from the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) Inception Cohort (Poster)
​Sunday, October 26
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Polygenic risk of lupus is differentially associated with individual EHR-derived classification criteria (Poster)
​Sunday, October 26
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Preliminary Analysis Of Open-Label Dose-Titration Phase Of SLE Treatment With N-Acetylcysteine (SNAC) Shows Evidence For Potential Improvement Of SLEDAI, BILAG, ADHD And Fatigue Scores In Patients With Active SLE (Poster)
​Sunday, October 26
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Healthcare Disparities in Rheumatology
​Monday, October 27
3:00 – 4:30 pm 

Defining Safe Hydroxychloroquine Blood Levels: Time to Switch to Precision Monitoring for Optimized Lupus Care
​Tuesday, October 28
8:00 – 8:15 am 

​Dapirolizumab Pegol Demonstrated Improvement in Quality of Life of Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: LupusQoL Results from a Phase 3 Trial (Poster)
​Tuesday, October 28
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Disease Activity Independently Correlates with Cognitive Impairment in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Poster)
​Tuesday, October 28
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Lupus Intervention Fatigue Trial: Preliminary Analysis of Baseline Data (Poster)
​Tuesday, October 28
10:30 am – 12:30 pm
​Poster preview:
  • At the baseline visit to assess eligibility for enrolling in the Lupus Intervention Fatigue Trial, LIFT (NCT02653287), 167 participants had significant fatigue, only 1/3rd met US physical activity guidelines, and 80% needed to make some changes in their diet intake.
  • Some measures of lower levels of physical activity and  total vegetable in the diet were associated with individuals living in neighborhoods with fewer resources.
  • Tailored interventions such as those in the LIFT trial which address individual and contextual barriers are needed to improve physical activity and diet intake impact on fatigue.
Carrie Richardson, MD

Abstracts Sessions:
0883: Predictive Significance of Serum Proteins for the Course of Systemic Sclerosis-Related Interstitial Lung Disease in the Multicenter CONQUER Cohort

1582: Risk factors for incident digital ischemic complications in systemic sclerosis in the Collaborative National Quality and Efficacy Registry (CONQUER)

1553: Circulating Monocyte Level Is Associated With Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Systemic Sclerosis

1563: RESET-SSc: Clinical Trial Evaluating Rese-cel (Resecabtagene Autoleucel), A Fully Human, Autologous 4-1BB CD19-CAR T Cell Therapy in Systemic Sclerosis

​1555: Prevalence of Organ Involvement and Baseline Predictors of Disease Progression in Patients with Limited Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis: Insights from the CONQUER Database

2654: Discordance Between Patient and Physician Global Assessments in Early Systemic Sclerosis

2475: GERD Severity, Proton Pump Inhibitor Use, and Longitudinal Forced Vital Capacity in the CONQUER Registry

1566: Factors Associated with Patient and Physician Global Assessments in Early Systemic Sclerosis
Eric Ruderman, MD

Navigating Biologics in Spondyloarthritis
Friday, October 24
4:10 – 5:30 pm
 
Deborah Winter, PhD

The Composition of Circulating Immune Cells is Associated with Nociplastic Pain in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (Poster)
​Monday, October 27
10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Multimodal Spatial and Single-Cell Profiling of Synovial Tissue Reveals Macrophage Programs Associated with Biologic Therapy Treatment Response in Rheumatoid Arthritis​ (Poster)
​Monday, October 27
10:30 am – 12:30 pm
More Presentations

Clarice Lin, MD
ACR and EULAR Reproductive Health Guidelines: Where Are They Different and Why
Monday, October 27
9:00 – 9:30 am

Association between Anxiety and Tender Swollen Joint Difference in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (Poster)
​Monday, October 27
​​10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Anu Pandit, MD
​The Weight of What Went Missing
Northwestern Medicine-Hosted Events

Northwestern Scleroderma Educational Event
Our leaders presented on a wide range of topics, equipping attendees with valuable insights and knowledge to enhance patient care, exploring the latest developments in scleroderma research and management from a multidisciplinary perspective. ​

Ultrasound Guided Synovial Biopsy Course
Northwestern University hosted an ultrasound guided synovial biopsy course that includes a history, background, and indications for synovial biopsies, procedures, interpretations, discussion, and live demonstration and hands-on simulation practice for attendees. Course led by faculty from Northwestern Medicine, University of Rochester, Northwell, and UCSD/UCLA. CME credit is available.
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EULAR Global Research Exchange Meeting
Northwestern Medicine is proud to have hosted the EULAR Global Research Exchange Meeting this fall. This meeting aimed to foster international collaboration in rheumatology by sharing clinical and research skills and expertise. It aimed to highlight exceptional professionals in laboratory and clinic-based research, showcase innovative work from abroad and encourage collaboration.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) Meeting
All Systemic Lupus Erythematosus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) members were invited to participate in this meeting at Northwestern Medicine, engaging in discussions and networking with peers from across the country and around the world. 

Vasculitis Investigator Conference
All Vasculitis Patient-Powered Research Network (VPPRN) members were invited to participate in this conference hosted at Northwestern Medicine. Presentations and discussions were vasculitis-focused from investigators from across the country.

Northwestern Rheumatology Annual Conference Reception
Our annual convergence reception took place to connect with colleagues over cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.

Amgen Rheumatology Clinical Research Meeting
Attendees of this Meeting can connect with other rheumatologists and learn about ongoing research efforts and clinical care across a variety of disease areas. 

Monday, October 27, 5:15 – 6:45 pm
Location: TBD
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Registration: Invitation only

​NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE RHEUMATOLOGY

The Division of Rheumatology works to prevent and treat arthritis and rheumatic diseases through research, education and clinical care. Our diverse faculty are world-renowned experts in all spectrums of rheumatic disease including:
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Psoriatic arthritis
  • Ankylosing spondylitis
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Scleroderma
  • Systemic lupus erythematosus
  • Gout
  • Myositis
  • Vasculitis
​​Our scleroderma and vasculitis clinical programs are among the largest in the nation. In addition, we are one of the few rheumatology programs in the U.S. with a dedicated ultrasound-imaging clinic, which maintains state-of-the-art equipment and performs experimental procedures, such as ultrasound-guided synovial biopsies. We work to improve treatments, identify new therapeutics, find the underlying basis of disease and establish a precision medicine approach.