ACR on Air Podcast

ACR on Air seeks to have informative conversations rheumatology professionals want to hear – ranging in topic from trends in clinical practice, to issues affecting rheumatology professionals, and the changing landscape of the rheumatology field. Tune in bi-weekly for new interviews and commentary that are sure to empower listeners to excel in their specialty.
Podcast Host

Our host, Jonathan Hausmann, MD, is a pediatric and adult rheumatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His research interests include autoinflammatory diseases, health technology, and medical education. Connect with Dr. Hausmann on Twitter (@hausmannMD).
Episodes
New episodes will be available twice a month on Tuesdays.
Episode 62 – Joining a Practice
Episode 61 – Funding Through the Rheumatology Research Foundation
Episode 60 – Ophthalmology for the Rheumatologist
Episode 59 – Healthcare Disparities in Rheumatology
Episode 58 – Patient Participation in Research
Browse previous episodes in the ACR on Air archive.
Episode Show Notes
Congratulations, you’ve completed your rheumatology fellowship! Armed with the knowledge, skills, and passion for treating complex rheumatic disease, you’re set to go off into the world and help those who need your set of skills most. So... How do you do that? Sunil Abraham, MD, joins us to unpack and demystify this next challenge in your career – from his experience. We discuss the various ways of practicing rheumatology, from academic to clinical, as well as the organizational models of hospital-based groups, community practices, and private practices and the financial risks and benefits of partnership.

Sunil Abraham, MD – Sunil Abraham, MD, graduated college from Northeastern University and received his MD degree from the State University of New York in Syracuse. He performed his internal medicine residency and fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. Since 2010 he has practiced rheumatology in the Albany, New York area where he served as Clinical Assistant Professor at Albany Medical Center and has taken advanced coursework with the American Association of Physician Leadership.
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No matter what stage of your career you’re in, the Rheumatology Research Foundation can help and support your research endeavors. This week, we discuss many of the grants the Foundation offers, not just to medical students and early career investigators, but also to medical educators, community rheumatologists and fellowship programs. We’ve invited Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH, chair of the Scientific Advisory Council on the Board of Directors for the Rheumatology Research Foundation, and Eryn Marchiolo, Vice President of Mission at the Foundation to discuss what the Foundation is, how it goes about executing its mission for rheumatology research, and the scientific topics of most interest. We also discuss how to apply for those grants, the grant selection process, and how you can get involved.

Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH – Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH, is the Stokes-Shackleford Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, NE, where he also serves as a staff physician and researcher for the VA Nebraska Western Iowa Health Care System.
Dr. Mikuls is an epidemiologist and rheumatologist, with research interests focused on disease epidemiology, pathogenesis and outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis and gout. He currently receives active research support from the NIH (NIGMS, NIAMS), VA, US Department of Defense, and industry; and is Director of the Professional Development Core for the NIGMS-funded Great Plains IDeA CTR. He founded and has directed the national VA Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry (VARA) since its inception in 2002. He currently chairs the Scientific Advisory Counsel and serves on the Board of Directors for the Rheumatology Research Foundation.

Eryn Marchiolo – Eryn Marchiolo has worked for the Rheumatology Research Foundation for ten years and currently serves as its Vice President of Mission. In this role, Eryn provides leadership and oversight of Foundation programming focused on the mission priorities of increasing patient access to care and accelerating scientific discoveries. This role includes oversight of the Foundation’s robust awards program, serving as the staff liaison to the Scientific Advisory Council and Board convened Portfolio Review Panels.
Related Links:
Rheumatology Research Foundation
www.rheumresearch.org
foundation@rheumatology.org
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Our eyes: reflections of the soul, can say more than lips without need of translation, and give us a glimpse into stories only a journey can record. Our next guest knows this all too well as he’s made a career of looking at rheumatic disease through a different lens, quite literally. Join us this week for an illuminating discussion with James T. Rosenbaum, MD, rheumatologist, and author of over 650 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Dr. Rosenbaum helps us put uveitis into focus this week as we discuss what it is, how he treats it, how to determine if those with it have other rheumatic conditions, and which patients with rheumatic disease should seek additional treatment with an ophthalmologist.

James T. Rosenbaum, MD – James T. Rosenbaum, MD, is the Senior Vice-President for Research at Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Burlingame, CA and the Chair Emeritus of the Legacy Devers Eye Institute, Portland, OR. Previously, he was Professor of Ophthalmology, Medicine, and Cell Biology at Oregon Health & Science University and chair of the Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases for 21 years. He held the Edward E. Rosenbaum Professorship named for his father. According to ExpertScape, he is the world’s most impactful uveitis scientist for the years 2013 to 2023 based on publications and citations. Wikipedia notes that he is the world’s only practicing rheumatologist to have headed a department of ophthalmology. He is the author of more than 650 peer reviewed manuscripts or book chapters and the recipient of several national and international awards in rheumatology as well as ophthalmology, including the American College of Rheumatology Distinguished Service Award (2022), the ACR Clinician Scientist Award, and the ARVO Friedenwald Award.
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In this week’s episode, Irene Blanco, MD, MS, joins us for a discussion regarding healthcare disparities. What are healthcare disparities? What causes them? Are there any disparities specific to rheumatology? We examine the consequences, explore the impact of patient outcomes, and the challenges faced by communities and some solutions you and your practice can engage in.

Irene Blanco, MD, MS – Irene Blanco, MD, MS, is a Professor in the Department of Medicine-Rheumatology and is the co-Director for the Clinical Research Ethics and Equity Consultative Service—part of Northwestern University’s Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute. Her research interests focus on addressing health disparities and adverse social determinants of health in rheumatology. She is currently working on developing graduate medical education curriculum addressing disparities and health equity. In addition, Dr. Blanco focuses on the diversification of the medical and biomedical workforce.
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Health research methodologist and clinical epidemiologist, Emily Sirotich, PhD, joins us to shed light on a growing paradigm shift in medicine: patient participation in research. Once only considered to be the beneficiaries of research and care, Dr. Sirotich is here to discuss with us the evolving role patients and patient organizations have, and how they are helping to lead the way in research. Through dispensing invaluable perspectives, experiences, and insights to the conversation of care, the improvement of it and the advancement of the science involved, patient participation in research has proven to be a powerful resource in the investigation of treatment.

Emily Sirotich, PhD – Emily Sirotich, PhD, is a health research methodologist and clinical epidemiologist. Dr. Sirotich graduated with a PhD in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. She is an expert in rare disease research methods, novel data collection methods, and patient/community engagement. Dr. Sirotich is also a Steering Committee member of the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance and Board Member of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance. She is a current medical student at the Yale School of Medicine.
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