ACR Journals On Air

In this episode, Nicholas P. McCormic discusses new real-world research from the RISE registry examining the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. He explains the motivation behind the study, its design, and key findings on medication use, weight loss, and differences between semaglutide and tirzepatide, while highlighting important considerations...

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Ji Soo Kim about a new tool designed to help people with scleroderma better understand and manage their disease. Using information collected over many years from patients receiving routine care, Dr. Kim developed an interactive platform that turns complex medical data into easy-to-understand charts and predictions. We discuss how the tool can help patients and doc...

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Swati Mehta and Dr. Lee Schulman Shapiro about their study examining early- and late-onset scleroderma renal crisis using data from three patient cohorts. They discuss key clinical findings, including  important differences  related to sex, autoantibodies, presentation, dialysis outcomes, and long-term prognosis, as well as the implications for patient care. The...

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Nirali Shah about the growing role of artificial intelligence in healthcare and rehabilitation. Drawing from her recent scoping review, Dr. Shah discusses the evidence behind AI-driven health apps for education, exercise, gait retraining, clinical decision support, remote patient monitoring, and pain management. The conversation also explores the challenges, risk...

In this episode, we explore the emerging role of biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis–associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) with Dr. Brent Luedders, discussing how prior ILD research laid the foundation for his latest multi-cohort study. He walks us through the study design, including the use of VA and non-VA cohorts, the biomarker panel that was tested, and the key findings related to preva...

In this episode, Drs. Nilasha Ghosh and Anne Bass discuss immune-related adverse events from immune checkpoint inhibitors, focusing on psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. They review early clinical recognition, epidemiology, and findings from a multicenter observational study evaluating apremilast, including patient characteristics, outcomes, and key limitations. The conversation also highlights in...

In this episode, Dr. Katie McMenamin and Dr. Josh Baker discuss their research on the genetic drivers of pain in rheumatoid arthritis,  drawing on  data from the FORWARD and VARA cohorts. They explore how genetic risk scores relate to pain and disease activity, and what these findings mean for patient care, remission, and future clinical trials. The conversation also highlights key study limitatio...

In this episode,  Dr.  Shervin Assassi discusses a secondary analysis of the SENSCIS trial, exploring how peripheral blood gene expression may predict response to mycophenolate in systemic sclerosis–associated lung disease. He highlights key findings linking immune and metabolic gene signatures, as well as C-reactive protein, to changes in lung function, and considers their potential role in guidi...

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sasha Bernatsky about her research on the relationship between exposure to fine particulate air pollution and the development of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases. She explains what fine particulate matter is, how her team used large population datasets to study environmental exposures, and what their findings suggest about the potential health impacts of ai...

In this episode, Dr. Elizabeth Volkmann discusses emerging research on the gut microbiome in systemic sclerosis, building on findings from early-diagnosis and prior microbiome studies. She explains her team's analysis of microbiome-derived metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids, and their potential role in symptom development, highlighting key findings, clinical implications, and study lim...

In this episode, Dr. Madeline O'Sullivan discusses her retrospective study of U.S. veterans in the Veterans Health Administration, examining outcomes among patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors for cancer. She explains how the cohorts were defined, how use and timing of immunosuppressive therapies were analyzed, and how mortality and cause of death were  dete...

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Jayne MacMahon about an international collaborative study in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) involving pediatric rheumatology centers in Genoa, Italy, and Toronto, Canada. She discusses the study's motivation, key disease activity measures, treatment targets, and definitions of remission, along with major findings on time to remission, steroid exposure, and treatm...

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Evelyne Vinet about a new study examining whether TNF inhibitors increase the risk of serious infections during pregnancy among women with chronic inflammatory diseases. Using large real-world data from the  M arketScan   database, the discussion explores how pregnancy, inflammatory disease, TNF inhibitor exposure, and serious infections were defined, how conf...

In this episode, we explore why rheumatoid arthritis matters to the broader public, with a focus on difficult-to-treat RA (D2T-RA)—what it is, how often it occurs, and why early identification is critical. Our guest demystifies common RA research terms and outcome measures, introduces the real-world data sets behind the study, and explains—in plain language—how a predictive model was developed usi...

In this episode, we speak with a leading investigator in large-vessel vasculitis , Dr. Anne Bull Haaversen,  to clarify the full spectrum of giant cell arteritis (GCA), including its aortic involvement. We reviewed the prevalence of GCA-related aneurysms, why the team compared ultrasonography with other imaging modalities, and how the ascending aorta can be assessed with ultrasound. Our Dr. Haaver...

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Aaron Smith to explore why the rheumatology community urgently needs stronger grounding in aging principles and more adaptable care strategies for older adults living with rheumatic conditions. Dr. Smith walks us through his innovative research examining the attitudes and perspectives of healthcare professionals, explains how tools like the ERA-12 help illumin...

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Sandra Pinho, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Chicago, to explore the fascinating intersection of stem cell biology, aging, and the bone marrow niche. From her early days studying biology in Portugal to groundbreaking research in London and New York, Dr. Pinho shares her scientific journey an...

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Sharon about the complex intersection of oncology and autoimmunity through the lens of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs)—therapies that have transformed cancer care but can also unleash immune-related adverse events ( irAEs ). Dr. Elad explains how ICIs work, why they can trigger autoimmune-like toxicities, and what distinguishes rheumatologic irAEs from classic...

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Kristin to discuss her session at ACR Convergence on taking a personalized approach to pulmonary hypertension in connective tissue diseases. She shares why now is the critical moment for this shift and how "personalized" care extends beyond biomarkers and imaging to encompass clinical nuances, patient-reported symptoms, and multidisciplinary collaboration. We...

In this episode, Dr. Shaun Jackson uses a compelling patient case to illuminate the complex mechanisms of immune tolerance and autoimmunity. He explains how B cells learn to avoid targeting the body's own tissues through central and peripheral tolerance—and how these safeguards can fail. The discussion covers the roles of germinal centers, T cells, and rare genetic disorders in shaping immune regu...

In this episode, our guests Dr. Sabrina Hoa and Dr. Marie Hudson explore new insights into late-onset interstitial lung disease (ILD) in scleroderma. Using data from the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group, they discuss how ILD can still develop years after diagnosis, challenging traditional screening timelines. They cover key findings, clinical implications, treatment patterns, and the need for m...

In this episode, we review the Arthritis & Rheumatology manuscript, " Diagnosis and Treatment of Castleman Disease ," with Drs. Luke Chen and David Fajgenbaum. The discussion (which provides an essential, up-to-date overview of a rare but critical disease)  highlights the clinical subtypes of Castleman Disease, its overlap with autoimmune and autoinflammatory syndromes, and current diagnostic and...

In this episode of ACR Journals on Air , host Dr. Vicki Shanmugam speaks with Dr. Alain Sanchez-Rodriguez about a new study from the Lupus Midwest Network ( LUMEN ), published in Arthritis Care & Research . They explore how patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) experience delays and disparities in care, the types of physicians involved in diagnosis, and what the data reveals about acces...

This episode explores the ARChiVe Registry, a longitudinal database for pediatric vasculitis, with guest Dr. Sam, a pediatric rheumatologist and bioinformatician. The discussion covers the registry's design, patient selection, and key outcomes, including remission rates, hospitalization, and damage scores ( pVDI ) across treatment strategies. Dr. Sam highlights how these findings inform clinical p...

This week, we explore the potential role of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and comorbid type 2 diabetes (T2D)—a population historically excluded from landmark SGLT2i trials. Our guest, Dr. K aren C ostenbader, discusses the rationale behind the study, the nuances of trial emulation design, and ke y finding s regarding cardi ova...