Dear DC Rheumatism Society Members,

Welcome to the seventy-eighth year of the Rheumatism Society of the District Columbia! I am honored to serve as the President for the 2024-2025 year.

I would like to thank our past President, Dr. Daniel Bunker, for his devoted leadership this past year. Under his leadership, we had the opportunity to learn from some of the finest experts in the field of Rheumatology. This coming year, I share the board with Dr. Sonia Silinsky-Krupnikova, our Vice President and Dr. Rami Eltaraboulsi, our Treasurer. We are privileged to have the support of Ethel Sauro, our dedicated Secretary.

After several years of hybrid lectures, I am excited to share that we will be returning to all in-person lectures for the 2024-2025 year! Our first lecture will be September 11th with Dr. Marcela Ferrada speaking to us on the topic of Relapsing Polychondritis. We are also expecting to meet with Dr. Nisha Gilotra, Director of the Cardiac Sarcoidosis Program at Johns Hopkins in October. In December, Dr. Khattri, a board certified Dermatologist and Rheumatologist will be joining us. For the month of January, Dr. Alfred Kim will be joining us to share updates on SLE.

Meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of the month in September, October, December, January, February, March and April. We will hold the Fellow’s Forum in May 2025, under the direction of Dr. Mercedes Quinones. The Fellow’s Forum is an opportunity for Rheumatology trainees and Internal Medicine Residents to highlight unique cases that they have encountered over the current academic year. In years past, we have learned much from these high-quality presentations.

Our website will be updated with the speaker schedule as it becomes available. Continuing Medical Education will also be available through MedStar. The instructions for obtaining CME credit will be available on the Society website.

I look forward to an exciting year for the DC Rheumatism Society. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,