Dear D.C. Rheumatism Society Members,

Welcome to the 80^th year of the Rheumatism Society of the District Columbia! I am looking forward to the upcoming year and serving as the President for the 2026-2027 academic year.

I would like to thank our past President, Dr. Sonia Silinksy Krupnikova, for her hard work this past year and for continuing the legacy of the society. This coming year, I share the executive board with Dr. Mercedes Quinones, our Vice-President, Dr. Erica McBride, our Treasurer and Dr. Kaitlin Quinn, our secretary. We are privileged to have the support of Ethel Sauro, our society’s dedicated administrative secretary of many years.

In addition to the usual dinner meetings, we will be offering a new opportunity for an educational stipend for fellows (more to come). We will also be hosting a “Hot Seat” event with the well-known Dr. Jack Cush in December in which we will review unusual and complex cases. As in years past, we look forward to our annual Fellows Forum in May 2027. The Fellows Forum is an opportunity for trainees at DMV academic programs to highlight unique cases and research from the past year.

The lecture format this year will be predominantly in-person, on the second Wednesday of the month, with virtual sessions in January 2027 and February 2027. We hope you will join us for our first lecture in September featuring Dr. Villa-Forte, who will present on ANCA vasculitis.

Continuing Medical Education credits will be available through MedStar. The instructions for obtaining CME credit will be available on the Society website and distributed at each meeting.

I look forward to an exciting year for the D.C. Rheumatism Society. Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions!

Sincerely,