Project Summary-Abstract
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has been a leader in the effort to facilitate the bidirectional
exchange of cutting-edge scientific information between scientists and investigators in rheumatic diseases
through its annual Basic and Clinical Research Conferences. The ACR has successfully hosted the conference
as separate programs and as a combined basic science and clinical research program, as well as both in-
person and virtually. Each program has been held in conjunction with ACR’s annual meeting, Convergence.
The ACR annual meeting, ACR Convergence, attracts between 10,000 and 15,000 attendees each year and is
the principal mechanism for providing a forum for the exchange of ideas about research, education, patient
care, practice management and advocacy issues. Because the Basic and Clinical Research Conferences have
been held in conjunction with ACR Convergence, typically as a pre-meeting event, ACR has been able to
attract renown scientists and investigators who may otherwise not have attended.
For 2022, the Basic and Clinical Research Conference will be held jointly to attract scientists and investigators
from both the basic, clinical and translational research communities. The tentative title of the conference is
Disrupting the Genetics of Rheumatology: The Role of Somatic Mutations in Health and Disease . This
combined approach will focus on the role of somatic mutations in the development rheumatologic diseases.
Clinical research sessions will focus on genetic epidemiology approaches for associating somatic mutations
with disease. Basic research sessions will explore topics such as identification of the presence and functional
role of somatic mutations.
The conference organizers include Dr. Jill Norris, Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at
the Colorado School of Public Health; Dr. Peter Grayson, Earl Stadtman Investigator at the NIAMS; Dr. Linda
Hiraki, ACR Committee on Research Liaison, Clinician-Scientist in the Division of Rheumatology and Scientist
in Genetics & Genome Biology at SickKids Research Institute; Dr. Iannis Adampopoulos, ACR Committee on
Research Liaison, Director of the Arthritis Program and Head of Osteoimmunity Laboratory at the Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center; and Dr. Kristine Kuhn, ACR Committee on Research Chair and Associate
Professor of Medicine-Rheumatology at the University of Colorado and the Co-Director of the University of
Colorado Program for Advancing Spondyloarthritis Treatment. The ACR Committee on Research focuses on
research and research training in rheumatology and encourages clinical and health services research on the
organization of medical and health care as they may affect patients with rheumatic diseases.
