Ask ACR
Annual Meeting Press Center
Welcome to the Press Center for ACR Convergence 2026, the American College of Rheumatology’s premier event. This year’s conference promises to be an exceptional gathering of the field’s leading experts, researchers, and practitioners dedicated to advancing the science and treatment of rheumatic diseases.
In the Press Center, you will find all the resources you need to cover the conference’s exciting developments. Our team is here to assist you with media materials, interview coordination, expert commentary, and any other support you need. Whether you’re reporting on groundbreaking research, innovative treatments, or the latest developments in patient care, we are committed to ensuring you have access to the information and contacts necessary for comprehensive and timely coverage.
Thank you for joining us and your continued support in sharing about the rheumatology specialty. Don’t hesitate to contact our team with any questions or needs.
- New Research at ACR Convergence 2026 Highlights Pregnancy Risks in Lupus and the Potential Promise of AI-Supported Reproductive Counseling
- ACR Research Highlights Pediatric Treatment Gaps, Criteria Performance, and Early Promise of CAR T-Cell Therapy
- ACR Convergence 2026 Studies Highlight Opportunities to Address Social Needs in Rheumatology Education and Care
- ACR Convergence 2026 Sheds Light on Trends in Hospitalizations and the Impact of Medicaid Expansion on Healthcare Spending in Rheumatoid Arthritis
- New ACR Convergence 2026 Data Highlight Both Clinical Promise and Patient Priorities for CAR T-Cell Therapy in Severe Autoimmune Disease
- New ACR Convergence 2026 Research Highlights Cardiovascular Mortality Disparities and Promising Baricitinib Results in Sjögren Disease
- New ACR Research Highlights How Artificial Intelligence Could Strengthen Rheumatology Care, Education and Clinical Decision Support
- New ACR Convergence Research Links Inflammatory Arthritis to Elevated Cardiovascular Risk and Identifies Major Gap in GLP-1 Treatment Uptake
- Student Brothers Turn Ultrasound Course Volunteer Experience Into Medical Simulation Innovation
- GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Linked to Better Cardiovascular Outcomes, Weight Loss, and Patient-Reported Health in People With Rheumatic Diseases
- American College of Rheumatology Announces 2026 Award Recipients
- Anne R. Bass, MD, Named 90th President of the American College of Rheumatology
- Kaleb Michaud, PhD, Named 61st President Association of Rheumatology Professionals
This year, we are offering expert commentary from the following rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals to provide additional insight about various research presented at the meeting. Registered press interested in this service may contact Teri Arnold (tarnold@rheumatology.org) for assistance coordinating interviews. Please provide the session or poster title and date (if applicable) for which you are requesting commentary.
Our experts are:
Howard Blumstein, MD, FACR, joined Rheumatology Associates of Long Island (RALI) in 2005. He graduated summa cum laude from Binghamton University with a B.S. in Biology and earned his medical degree from SUNY Buffalo. He completed his internal medicine residency at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2003 and his rheumatology fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center in 2005.
Dr. Blumstein is in full-time clinical practice and the managing partner at RALI. He is also a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital and participates in the Rheumatology Fellowship Program. Dr. Blumstein has been recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor in Rheumatology since 2016.
Dr. Blumstein is active in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and has served as a volunteer on a variety of councils, committees and task forces. He is the incoming secretary of the American College of Rheumatology board of directors.
Credentials
He completed his rheumatology fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center in 2005. He is in full-time practice at Rheumatology Associates of Long Island where he also serves as the managing partner of the group. Additionally, he is a rheumatology faculty member and assistant professor of medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital.
Joseph Huffstutter, MD, is a community-based rheumatologist who has practiced at Arthritis Associates since 1984 in the Chattanooga area. He is a past president of the Tennessee Rheumatology Society and a master of the American College of Rheumatology. He is the ACR advisor to AMA CPT, and the president-elect of the Tennessee Medical Association. He has authored more than twenty publications in peer-reviewed journals and participated in numerous presentations. He has been the principal investigator in numerous clinical trials.
Cuoghi Edens, MD, FAAP, is a medpeds rheumatologist board-certified in both rheumatology and pediatric rheumatology. Dr. Edens treats children and adults suffering from a wide array of rheumatic diseases. Due to her combined adult and pediatric rheumatology training, her clinical practice centers around teens and young adults diagnosed with rheumatic diseases and their healthcare transition into adult-centered care. She is also cares for pregnant or preconception patients with rheumatic diagnoses.
She is a national leader in reproductive health and rheumatology research across the age spectrum. She is the co-leader of the CARRA Reproductive Health Work Group. She is a strong advocate for pediatric rheumatic diseases, rheumatology medical education, and reproductive health knowledge and access.
Credentials
Cuoghi Edens, MD, FAAP
Associate Professor, Internal Medicine & Pediatrics
Sections of Rheumatology & Pediatric Rheumatology
University of Chicago Medicine
Donald Thomas, MD, FACP, FACR, RhMSUS, is in private practice in Greenbelt, Maryland. He is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland, and teaches at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He has a special interest in caring for patients with lupus and Sjögren's disease. He volunteers on numerous committees and working groups at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and currently serves on the ACR Board of Directors. He is also very active in nonprofit patient advocacy groups (such as The Lupus Foundation of America and the Sjögren’s Foundation, SF) and served as immediate past Chair of the SF Board of Directors. He also authored the top-rated lupus education books, The Lupus Encyclopedia and Lupus: The Essential Guide.
Jeffrey Curtis, MD, MS, MPH, is a professor of medicine, epidemiology and computer science in the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Dr. Curtis received a medical degree and a Master of Public Health degree from Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, Oregon. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Oregon Health and Science University and a fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Alabama. He completed a graduate program in clinical informatics at Stanford University and received his Master of Science degree in epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is board certified in both rheumatology and clinical informatics.
Dr. Curtis holds the Harbert-Ball Endowed Professorship in Rheumatology and Immunology at the University of Alabama. He is the PI of the UAB P30 “BIGDATA” Core Center for Clinical Research funded by NIH (NIAMS) and the lead of the UAB-FASTER Data and Analytic Center. He is director of the UAB Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics Research (PEER) Unit, and he is the Co-PI of the mobile health-based, PCORI-funded Patient Powered Research Network PatientSpot (formerly ArthritisPower) research registry. In 2021, he co-created the Excellence Network in RheumatoloGY (ENRGY).
Dr. Curtis is a member of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), and the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR). He has been on the editorial board for Arthritis & Rheumatology, Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety (PDS) and Arthritis Care and Research (AC&R). He has an H-index of 111 and an i-10 index of 563, and he has coauthored more than 800 peer-reviewed manuscripts, review articles and book chapters.
Credentials
Marguerite Jones Harbert – Gene V Ball, MD Professor of Medicine
Director, UAB PharmacoEpidEmiology, and phaRmcoeconomics (PEER) Unit
Director, UAB Musculoskeletal Digital Health and Technology Laboratory
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology
Arthur M. Mandelin II, MD/PhD, RMSK, RhMSUS, completed his rheumatology fellowship at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where he also conducted post-doctoral research under Dr. Richard Pope into apoptosis in rheumatoid arthritis. After completing the fellowship, Dr. Mandelin was proud to be selected to stay on as a faculty member at Northwestern, where he is a co-investigator on several industry-sponsored trials. He carries both the ACR’s RhMSUS certification and an ARDMS RMSK registration in musculoskeletal ultrasound. Dr. Mandelin launched Northwestern University’s first-ever training program in musculoskeletal ultrasonography for rheumatology fellows and is an active participant in the REASON group and the NIH / NIAMS Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases (AMP® AIM) Program, which are multi-center research collaborations devoted to using ultrasound guidance to obtain minimally invasive synovial tissue biopsies in autoimmune diseases.
Credentials
Arthur M. Mandelin II, MD/PhD, RMSK, RhMSUS, Associate Professor of Medicine
Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology
Certified in Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (RhMSUS)
Registered in Musculoskeletal Sonography (RMSK)
Member, Feinberg DOM Task Force on Artificial Intelligence
Chair, Rheumatology Steering Board, Epic Systems (national-level unpaid position with an EHR vendor)
Shailendra Singh, MD, FACP, FACR, is a practicing rheumatologist at Unity Health in Searcy, Arkansas, and Adjunct Faculty at Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr.Singh is triple board-certified in internal medicine, rheumatology and geriatric medicine, trained at Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, and the University of Virginia, and has spent more than 10 years caring for Arkansans with arthritis and autoimmune conditions. He is a past president of the Arkansas Rheumatology Association and a passionate advocate for affordable patient care.
If you intend to present coverage of ACR Convergence 2026 in a dedicated website, newsletter, or promotional piece of any kind, please include the following disclaimer at the top of your piece:
This information is brought to you by [insert organization name] and is not sponsored by, nor a part of, the American College of Rheumatology.
Additionally, you may not use the ACR Convergence 2026 logo, company name and logo, nor recreations of the meeting or company logo to imply affiliation. Acceptable titles of your coverage are as follows:
- Highlights from ACR Convergence 2026
- ACR Convergence 2026 Highlights
- ACR Convergence 2026 Review
NOTE: Please refrain from using language that explicitly or implicitly claims “official coverage” of ACR Convergence 2026. Wiley Publishing and TriStar Publishing are the official media partners for all ACR professional meetings, including ACR Convergence.
The ACR reserves the right to request promotional activities violating any parts of this policy be edited or removed. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in the loss of press credentials for future meetings.
ACR/ARP Board of Directors Announcements
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) is pleased to announce the 2026–2027 executive committee for its board of directors. This dedicated group of professionals is poised to lead the ACR into a new era of excellence in rheumatology.
ACR President
Anne R. Bass, MD, will become president of the American College of Rheumatology on November 8, 2026, bringing more than three decades of experience in patient care, research, education, and mentorship. A Professor of Medicine at Hospital for Special Surgery and Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Bass studies rheumatic complications of cancer immunotherapies.
A longtime ACR volunteer leader, Dr. Bass led the 2022 ACR vaccination guideline and has served on the boards of the ACR and Rheumatology Research Foundation. As president, she will support research and education, strengthen the rheumatology workforce, and advance care for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.
Meet Dr. Bass, the 90th President of the American College of Rheumatology
The ACR names Ann Bass, MD, as 90th President
ARP President
Kaleb Michaud, PhD, will serve as the 61st president of the Association of Rheumatology Professionals (ARP). A professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and director of FORWARD, The National Databank for Rheumatic Diseases, Dr. Michaud brings expertise in patient registries, health informatics, and patient outcomes research. His experience living with rheumatic disease since childhood informs his commitment to the entire rheumatology care team.
An ACR and ARP volunteer since 2004, Dr. Michaud most recently served as ARP president-elect and secretary. As president, he will advance professional development, support research collaboration, and promote equitable care for people with rheumatic diseases.
Meet Dr. Michaud, the 61st President of the Association of Rheumatology Professionals
The ARP names Kaleb Michaud, PhD, as 61st President
ACR Convergence 2026 Awards
ACR Presidential Gold Medal
Daniel L. Kastner, MD, PhD, MACR, is being honored posthumously with the Presidential Gold Medal, the highest award bestowed by the ACR, in recognition of his outstanding career achievements in rheumatology. A member of the National Human Genome Research Institute, Dan is recognized for a lifetime of contributions that reflect the breadth and distinction celebrated by this honor. Established by the ACR’s past presidents and supported by the Rheumatology Research Foundation, the award recognizes exceptional career-long contributions across areas such as clinical medicine, research, education, and administration.
ARP Presidents Award
Barbara A. Slusher, DMSc, MSW, PA-C, DFAAPA, DipACLM, of HopeHealth, is being honored with the ARP President’s Award as a member of the ARP Governance Task Force. Presented this year to all members of the task force, the award recognizes their outstanding service in advancing the goals, ideals, and standards of the Association of Rheumatology Professionals (ARP). This honor celebrates Barbara and her fellow task force members for their collective contributions to the ARP over the past year.
