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 and Boston Children’s 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 81 – Partnering with Your Physical Therapist
Episode 80 – AI in Rheumatology
Episode 79 – Theory & Application of CAR-T Therapy
Episode 78 – Lyme Arthritis
Episode 77 – Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis
Episode 76 – Ultrasound Use in Rheumatology
Browse previous episodes in the ACR on Air archive.
Episode Show Notes
In this episode we explore what the field of physical therapy can offer to our patient’s care plan. We examine the role of the physical therapist for our patients, the optimal time for a referral, specific interventions, the role of patient education and the importance of communication between rheumatologists and physical therapists. Our guest, Yaser Salem, PT, PhD, MS, NCS, PCS, a distinguished professor, program director, and active researcher, with over twenty years of experience as an educator, lends insight to the challenges physical therapists face, recent advancements in the field, physical therapy’s future in rheumatology, and advice for those looking to join the field. This episode is our second installment in our series with the ARP.
Yaser Salem, PT, PhD, MS, NCS, PCS – Yaser Salem, PT, PhD, MS, NCS, PCS, is a Professor and Program Director of a Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. He has been an educator for over 20 years. Dr. Salem holds a PhD degree, and he holds ABPTS board certifications as both a Pediatric and Neurology Certified Clinical Specialist. He completed the one-year Education Leadership Institute (ELI) Fellowship of the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education – American Physical Therapy Association.
Dr. Salem has been consistently engaged in research, having published numerous peer-reviewed articles. He has over 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has authored scientific book and book chapters. He has over 400 peer-reviewed presentations at state, national, and international conferences. He is the first author on many of the published articles and presentations. He has successfully received several grant funding.
Dr. Salem has served as a as journal co-editor, associate editor, and editorial board member for peer-reviewed scientific journals. He has been a reviewer for numerous scientific journals and state, national, and international level conferences.
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Is there a future for AI (artificial intelligence) in rheumatology? Technologies such as Chat GPT and Google’s Gemini are already reshaping the landscape of medicine. In this discussion, we explore its current impact, particularly in disease diagnosis within fields like radiology. We also delve into its potential: AI's promise to revolutionize personalized medicine, enhancing how patients manage rheumatic diseases, and its role in advancing remote patient monitoring. Additionally, we address critical limitations, including concerns around privacy, security, and ethical considerations, particularly in the context of employing large language models.
Suleman Bhana, MD – Suleman Bhana, MD, is a board-certified rheumatologist in the northern New Jersey area, a medical podcaster, and digital health expert. He has a long history of volunteering with the ACR, part of the Steering Committee of the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance, and the former chair of the Communications and Marketing Committee (CMC) of the ACR. While chair of the CMC, Dr. Bhana helped to start the "ACR on Air" podcast and the ACR Social Media Ambassador program. After a decade in private rheumatology practice, Dr. Bhana made the career transition to biopharma industry, and currently works for Pfizer medical affairs.
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Maximilian Konig, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and Director of the Cellular Therapy Program (Autoimmunity) in the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany) and completed his residency training in the Stanbury Physician-Scientist Pathway at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Konig concluded subspecialty training in Clinical and Molecular Rheumatology as well as Advanced Rheumatology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His clinical interests lie in treating patients with systemic autoimmune diseases, including myositis, scleroderma, lupus, vasculitis, and inflammatory arthritis.
Maximilian F. Konig, MD – Maximilian Konig, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and Director of the Cellular Therapy Program (Autoimmunity) in the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany) and completed his residency training in the Stanbury Physician-Scientist Pathway at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Konig concluded subspecialty training in Clinical and Molecular Rheumatology as well as Advanced Rheumatology at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
His clinical interests lie in treating patients with systemic autoimmune diseases, including myositis, scleroderma, lupus, vasculitis, and inflammatory arthritis.
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Internationally renowned Lyme disease clinician and researcher, Allen Steere, MD, joins us for a discussion on Lyme arthritis. Dr. Steere explains the history of this disease, the historical identification of the borrelia spirochete which causes it, how Lyme arthritis manifests and presents (including why severity can be vary greatly in patients) and explore the current challenges in its diagnosis. We also cover treatment and antibiotic therapies for the disease, what post-treatment syndromes are, how to treat them and how understanding Lyme arthritis has improved our knowledge of other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Allen Steere, MD – Allen Steere, MD, is a physician scientist who is internationally recognized for his studies of Lyme disease. Dr. Steere's medical school and residency were at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and at St. Luke's Hospital in New York, a Columbia affiliate. From 1973–1975, he served in the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the Centers for Disease Control. In 1976, while a post-doctoral fellow at Yale, his training at the CDC was important in evaluating a cluster of children with arthritis in Lyme, Connecticut. Evaluation of this cluster led to the identification and description of Lyme arthritis. During his faculty period at Yale and subsequently at Tufts, he detailed the clinical features of Lyme disease, identified the spirochetal etiology of the infection in human patients, developed serologic, culture and PCR tests for diagnosis, conducted antibiotic trials, and was principal investigator of the SmithKline Beecham Phase III Lyme disease vaccine trial.
Dr. Steere currently serves as Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of Translational Research in Rheumatology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he studies basic pathologic features of Lyme disease and rheumatoid arthritis. He has been particularly interested in understanding post-infectious Lyme arthritis. These patients develop pathology in affected joints that is like that seen in rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, he is currently working to translate his years of experience with infection and immunity in Lyme arthritis to the study of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). He and his colleagues have shown that Prevotella copri, a gut microbe, is an immune-relevant bacterium in RA. They are continuing to identify microorganisms that are a part of the normal flora in the bowel which stimulate immune responses that may affect joints in this disease.
He and his colleagues see patients with Lyme arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis weekly in the clinic. In both diseases, they are researching basic immune abnormalities, knowledge of which may lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.
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Expert researcher and clinician, Elana J. Bernstein, MD, MSc, is our guest this week as we dive into lung disease brought on by systemic sclerosis (SS). We discuss symptoms, diagnosis, and how systemic sclerosis affects the lungs, including pulmonary hypertension and interstitial lung disease. Dr. Bernstein, who has dedicated her career to improving patient outcomes in systemic sclerosis, explains her approach to screening for lung disease, plus the latest research and questions that need to be answered.
Elana J. Bernstein, MD, MSc – Elana J. Bernstein, MD, MSc, is Florence Irving Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the Columbia University Scleroderma Center. Dr. Bernstein graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society while a medical student at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She completed her medicine residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital and her rheumatology fellowship at Hospital for Special Surgery. Dr. Bernstein’s research focuses on lung disease in systemic sclerosis, post-lung transplant outcomes of adults with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases, and the relationship between autoimmunity and interstitial lung disease. Dr. Bernstein has received grants from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Rheumatology Research Foundation, and the Arthritis Foundation to study lung disease in systemic sclerosis.
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Join us this week as our host, Jonathan Hausmann, MD, meets with a truly influential woman in the medical field, Elizabeth Ang, MBBS, MMed, MRCPCH, being one of the first pediatric rheumatologists in the Southeast Asian region to receive pediatric rheumatology training and is the Co-Convenor of the Paediatric Rheumatology Special Interest Group of APLAR (Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology). Beyond this, and so that children with rheumatic disease in the region can be diagnosed and treated, Dr. Ang trains local doctors and shares her knowledge and experience with them in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar. In this episode, she, and Dr. Hausmann discuss Singapore’s healthcare system, access to biologics, cultural barriers to treatment and more.
Minna Kohler, MD, RhMSUS – Minna Kohler, MD, RhMSUS, is the founder and director of the Rheumatology Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (MSKUS) Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. She completed a clinical/research rheumatology fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine. Prior training includes 3 years of general surgery residency, 2 years of the NIH-sponsored fellowship in Image-Guided Therapy in the Department of Radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and internal medicine residency at Lahey Clinic. Dr. Kohler received diagnostic/interventional MSKUS training in the Yale MSKUS program for surgeons in the Department of Orthopaedics/Rehabilitation. She developed the MGH rheumatology ultrasound training curriculum and actively teaches MSKUS to MGH Rheumatology, IM, and Emergency Departments, Spaulding PM&R residents, and Harvard medical students. Dr. Kohler serves as key faculty for MGH rheumatology and the Spaulding PM&R residency programs (rotation director for rheumatology and ultrasound). She also serves as adjunct faculty to the MGH CURE (Center for Ultrasound Research Education) in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Kohler is a graduate of the USSONAR (Ultrasound School of North American Rheumatologists) program and serves as a faculty mentor for training ultrasound to rheumatologists nationally. She is the lead co-director for the Harvard MSKUS CME course and has been a pioneer in promoting ultrasound training through the American College of Rheumatology (MSKUS Education and RhMSUS certification exam subcommittees).
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