OARSI Weekly Briefing - June 18, 2021 | Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI)

Welcome to the OARSI Weekly Briefing - the single resource you need to stay up to date with OARSI & World Congress news, membership announcements, and happenings within the OARSI & OA community.

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Board of Directors Call for Nominations

OARSI is now accepting applications for the Board of Directors for a 4-year term beginning in May 2022. The Board requires members whose backgrounds, skills, and experience match the OARSI mission and its current and future needs. Service on the OARSI board demands a considerable commitment of time and talent to advance the goals and objectives of the organization.

The Nominating Committee will review all applications and make a recommendation to the Board. The nominating committee seeks to maintain gender, geographical, and specialty balance. All OARSI members, except those employed by industry, or who own a for-profit company related to the OA field, are eligible to serve on the Board of Directors.

If you are interested in applying for a board position, please complete the short application form. Once we receive it, you will be sent a user name and password in order to complete an online disclosure. The deadline for receipt is August 31, 2021.

To learn more about the process and submit an application, please click HERE.

Member Spotlight: Phil Conaghan

Over the course of the next few weeks we will spotlight the 2021 OARSI Award Winners. This week’s Member Spotlight is Clinical Research Award winner, Phil Conaghan. Once again, congratulations Phil on a very deserving award!

How long have you been a member of OARSI and why did you join?
This is really pushing my memory to the limit. My 1st OARSI meeting (then OARS) was in Singapore in 1997, so I suspect it was around that time or soon after. I joined because OA had such a low profile at EULAR and ACR in those days, and I was already doing OA research, so it was my natural community.

What do you enjoy most about OARSI?
The Congress offers a concentrated way to catch up with both OA research and friends in the field. The growth of online OARSI has also been enjoyable.

Tell us a little bit about your research?
Ultimately I want to find a new therapy or optimise an existing therapy, so that means understanding more about pain, structure and their interrelationship. My interests in the field are broad and include pharmacoepidemiology, imaging biomarker development, clinical trial methodology and clinical intervention studies. I've just started a large programme grant developing a digital intervention for distal upper limb disorders.

What does winning the Clinical Research Award mean to you?
It's a real honour and hopefully means that some part of my research contribution is making a small difference! I see it as recognition for me as part of a team. I have been extremely lucky in my research career to work with 2 experts who have taught me a lot about the fundamental science of measurement, Alan Tennant (outcome measures) and Mike Bowes (imaging quantification) and this reflects their time investment in me! In my OA research team in Leeds, I've worked with a fantastic deputy and co-researcher in Sarah Kingsbury, and a lot of other excellent folk. The list of national and international collaborators and colleagues who helped and educated me is too long to list but I'm grateful to all of them.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Free time… interesting concept… I do enjoy walking especially near water, oceans and lakes, and stately homes are great to explore which makes UK a good place to live. And I enjoy non-serious movies (work and real life have enough drama!)

Hey OA! Podcast - Call for Volunteers

OARSI's Hey OA! Podcast covers topics ranging from groundbreaking new research to clinical care and policy, knowledge translation, career paths, and more. During each episode, OARSI Young Investigator, Kerry Costello, interviews a new guest to discuss OA-related topics. To check out the latest podcast click HERE. You can also listen to the podcast using your favorite podcast app.

Hey OA! is currently expanding. We have a number of exciting episodes planned for the upcoming months and we are looking for at least two volunteers to help with the following ongoing aspects of producing the podcast:

Episode planning/preparation: identifying and contacting potential guests, preparing interview questions, scheduling interviews
Episode editing: episodes typically involve minimal editing beyond adding intro/outro, theme music, and removing the occasional sneeze/cough. Editing can be done using free, open-source software. Opportunities to contribute to episode format exist for those with more experience.

Both positions involve a regular commitment (approximately 1 episode per month). Prior experience in these roles is not necessary (training will be provided) but is a plus. All are encouraged to apply, including young investigators.

To apply for these positions, please fill out this online form.

For any questions, email Kerry Costello.

Have ideas for an episode but don’t have time to volunteer? Submit your topic idea or guest nomination anytime using this form.

Join a Discussion Group

OARSI's Discussion Groups bring together individuals with a focus on specific OA-related specialty areas. To make the Discussion Groups easier to join we have updated our database. Now OARSI members can log in to their profile and select the Discussion Group(s) that they would like to join. By updating your profile with your Discussion Group preferences, we will be able to send targeted emails to each Discussion Group and maintain an official roster for each group. To update your profile, follow these steps.

Log in to OARSI.org
Click on the menu button in the top left of the screen
Select ‘My Profile’
Select ‘Edit'
Select the ‘My Account’ tab
Scroll to Discussion Groups and select your group(s)

OARSI Live Call for Presenters

The OARSI Live webinar series is currently on hiatus and will resume this fall. We are looking to schedule our fall program and are seeking webinar presenters. If you would like to present on an OARSI Live webinar, please contact Vincenzo Nelli with a brief summary of your proposed presentation.

The OA Summit Debate Series

Osteoarthritis pain remains a large unmet clinical need. One common tool in the clinician’s armamentarium has been a steroid injection. They are widely used but recent evidence has questioned their efficacy for pain relief and potentially associated ongoing structural changes, including accelerating the underlying structural progression.

This controversy warrants debate and we are pleased to have two leading experts (Profs Margreet Kloppenburg and Ali Guermazi) providing different perspectives on the merits and downfalls of this widespread intervention.

Please join us for the first in a series of controversial topics for a facilitated online debate. Register Now!

In partnership with

OARSI Connect '21 Recordings

Did you know that all of the recorded sessions from OARSI Connect ‘21 are available to registered attendees through April 2022!? If you missed a session because you attended another session or it occurred at a time that was inconvenient for you, you can view it by logging into the virtual meeting website. Just navigate to the Agenda page and select the session(s) you want to view.

If you missed OARSI Connect ‘21, you can still register and have access to the recordings. It simple, just register HERE.

Important Dates & Upcoming Deadlines

2021 Membership Dues: Be sure to renew your OARSI dues. Renew Now.
August 31, 2021 - Call for Board of Director Nominations Deadline
April 6 - 10, 2022 - OARSI World Congress in Berlin, Germany

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OARSI Weekly Briefing - June 18, 2021

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