The ACR will Promote Clinical and Basic Research in Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease.
Providing Educational Opportunities from Bench to Bedside
With its continued goal of providing educational opportunities specifically to attendees' conducting research, the ACR offered a Basic Research Conference as a pre-meeting course prior to the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. The focus of the conference was mesenchymal cells in rheumatic diseases. In addition, the Clinical Research Conference—also held as a pre-meeting course to the Annual Meeting—focused on new methods and challenges related to pain research. Combined, these two research conferences welcomed 570 attendees and were well-received by participants. Both conferences are supported in part by grants from the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
The ACR/AF Rheumatology Research Workshop was held in Denver, Colorado on May 4 – 5, 2012. The workshop is intended to promote mentorship and career development among early career investigators and encourage careers in academic research. Meeting attendance increased 80 percent in 2012, with 72 attendees participating in the program. All attendees received travel awards contingent upon submission of a recent abstract. Meeting attendees participated in abstract discussion groups, career development roundtable sessions and made poster presentations each evening with their peers and program faculty.
Building Meaningful Relationships
During 2012, the ACR's leadership engaged leadership at various institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health in dialogue about the future of rheumatology funding. Meetings with leadership at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and National Institute on Aging were successful and plans are underway to continue outreach throughout 2013.
The ACR also worked closely with colleagues at the FDA to identify areas for potential revision regarding guidance for clinical trials in rheumatoid arthritis. As a result, the ACR published a position statement on the ethical use of placebo and will continue work in 2013 in the areas of imaging outcomes and remission criteria used in clinical trials.
Providing Educational Resources for Researchers
The ACR published the first revision of the National Rheumatology Research Agenda in 2012. First developed in 2005, the revision represents the first update of this document since its inception, and is intended to comprehensively address important areas for research in rheumatic diseases including the need for new technology, infrastructure, and increased funding.
The ARHP Research Subcommittee updated online educational content and resources to assist doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows. Descriptions of and links to outcome measure instruments and evidence-based practice for academic researchers were updated.