Dear OARSI Members,
For my first President’s Message, I want to tell you a little about me. I have been an OARSI
member and participant in many of the congresses since the inception of the society. I am a
rheumatologist by training. My research interests from the beginning of my career have been in
the musculoskeletal diseases of aging, including osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. As a
rheumatologist subspecialty fellow at Stanford University in the 1980s, I performed what some
have considered a seminal study in which we found that older runners, if they did not have knee
pain, then the presence of knee OA was not different than non-runners, and that the runners
had more bone density than the non-runners. That NIH grant was funded for another 15 years
in which we determined that, as these runners aged, if they stayed active in physical activities,
they lived longer than the non-runners who exercised less. I never thought that that we would
encourage our knee OA subjects to stay active and they would overall do better.
My next long term research project was to work on the epidemiology of hip OA in both men and
women with Michael Nevitt at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). I was very
lucky to be able to add hip x-rays and radiographic hip OA, as an outcome measure in the
longitudinal aging cohorts for the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) and the Study of
Osteoporosis in men (MrOS). In these studies, our group was able to determine the
epidemiology of prevalent, incident and progression of hip OA in elderly Caucasian women, and
the genetics of hip OA in both men and women.
My epidemiologic research has now transitioned to deep phenotyping of the muscle in knee OA
subjects in a new cohort, the Study of Muscle Mobility and Aging (SOMMA), and we have
characterized the muscle characteristics, gene expression, and the intramuscular fat tissue in
knee OA subjects with and without pain. In the coming year, we hope to learn more about the
muscle fiber composition in knee OA subjects and controls and figure out what interventions
might prevent the muscle deterioration in these knee OA subjects.
Along the way, working as a clinician, I am always on the hunt for novel therapies to reduce pain
and slow the progression of the disease of OA. I have performed a number of phase 2 studies
including anti-nerve growth factor, the wnt modulating agent, loresivivent. Currently, I am
learning about the possibility of injecting a radioactive particle into the knee of subjects with
painful inflammatory knee OA and determining if this molecule can remove macrophages and
reduce inflammation and joint pain.
Throughout my career, I have been dedicated to working with young investigators to obtain
peer-reviewed funding in musculoskeletal diseases, and starting over 22 years ago, with other
senior investigators, we started a grant writing workshop, that is now run by the ORS. More than
500 assistant professors who study musculoskeletal diseases have attended these workshops
and 60% have received peer-reviewed funding. I believe the future of science in OA and
musculoskeletal diseases of aging is with the next generation.
In the spirit of OARSI, I expect over the next two years to continue our mission to be the society
that investigates all aspects of osteoarthritis, supports early career investigators in the field, and
to always remember that we are an international society, working for everyone.
There is no need to remind this group that the burden of osteoarthritis is increasing. We lack a
therapy to truly slow the disease progression. As a vibrant society, we need to work together
better to understand the biology of the disease and then find effective therapeutic targets. We
have our challenges ahead of us!
Right now, after a very successful scientific meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, let’s all think ahead
to the 2027 World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on April 1-4, 2027. Please put forth your
ideas for sessions to the Program Committee. If you have suggested speakers and topics for
Pre-Congress Workshops, Breakfast Workshops, Debate, Plenary or Concurrent sessions,
please complete this form to submit your proposals by July 9, 2026. Local members, please
reach out to us to get involved in the next Congress.
Further, we have determined that OARSI could do better with our social media presence,
especially highlighting the accomplishments of our members. More to come on that topic soon.
I am signing off now.
Thank you all for the opportunity to lead the Society.
With your involvement and help, there is much we can do together!
Nancy Lane, MD
OARSI President