Letter from the Editor

Dear colleagues,

The EULAR 2022 Congress took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, between the 1st and 4th of June 2022 and was the first in-person EULAR gathering since 2019. The meeting was attended by 8,200 delegates with a further 6,200 online attendees. Attendees have long memories of the last EULAR in Denmark with sustained rainfall in 2009, but, on this occasion, they were surprised by the very pleasant weather during the event. Despite Denmark being one of the first countries to lift COVID-19 restrictions, attendees arriving at the congress centre had to produce proof of immunity to COVID-19 and to navigate airport-type security with glossy coated alsatians in reserve behind the barriers. Nevertheless, like salmon excitedly returning to the spawning grounds, the delegates patiently funnelled through all obstacles to the upstream pools of knowledge, camaraderie, and creativity - that collectively embody the unique experience of the EULAR annual congress.

As usual, the meeting had an excellent balance of clinical and translational Rheumatology and a not unexpected number of abstracts and talks related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Overall, Rheumatology patients have fared better than expected, given the concerns of drug- or disease-related immunosuppression just over 2 years ago. Herein we select a series of abstracts that capture current Rheumatology activity across disease areas, including the growing interest in inflammatory arthritis prevention and newer therapeutic avenues for JAK inhibitors. We also highlight some state-of-the-art talks across different areas to give delegates a bigger picture of where the field is moving. We are eagerly looking forward to the continuation of normal EULAR meeting activity in the coming years.

Sincerely,

Prof. Dennis McGonagle

 

Biography

Dennis McGonagle, FRCPI, PhD, is an Academic Rheumatologist at the University of Leeds and section head of Experimental Rheumatology. He graduated in Medicine from the University College Dublin in 1990 and undertook postgraduate training in Dublin and Leeds where he completed his PhD. He has developed the modern enthesitis model for spondyloarthropathies and psoriatic arthritis including the cytokine-mediated enthesis originating theory of disease (Lancet 1998). He also described the synovioentheseal complex, nail anchorage to the skeleton, developed an integrated biomechanical and immunology model for PsA, and a mechanistic disease classification of immune diseases (PLoS Med 2006). His group also discovered synovial fluid mesenchymal stem cells, which is being researched towards osteoarthritis therapy development. Prof. McGonagle has also served on the EULAR scientific committee and is a member of the Editorial Board of ARD.

 

Conflict of Interest Statement: Prof. McGonagle has undertaken research and/or educational programme activities with Pfizer, MSD, AbbVie, BMS, UCB, Novartis, Celgene, and J&J.

 



Posted on 22 July, 2022