Message from the Directorship Winter 2022

Annual G-CAN Research Symposium

After two years of “virtual-only meetings,” G-CAN leadership was pleased to welcome back in-person – as well as virtual – attendees to the 8th Annual Research Symposium in Alexandria Virginia in October. The 2022 hybrid meeting was attended by 158 members, researchers, physicians and industry

representatives from 30 different countries and covered a full agenda of presentations and focus group discussions.

This year’s symposium had 20 Early Career Investigator abstracts, 24 topic speakers, and eight award presentations. As our organization continues to grow, we added additional content to our annual meeting, expanding it to two days and covering even more topics such as hyperuricemia and gout epigenomics and hyperuricemia-independent gout phenotypes.

Our in-person networking and social events were also popular and well-attended, especially the optional post-meeting banquet karaoke party. Even some of the most reluctant performers took the mic, and all who attended agreed that the karaoke party should become a G-CAN tradition!

The agenda, photos and recordings of the meeting presentations can be found on the G-CAN website. Session recordings will be available until December 31, 2022. Year in Review presentation recordings will remain on the website permanently.

With our 8th annual research symposium behind us, plans are already underway for the 2023 meeting: Our 9th Annual G-CAN Research Symposium will be in southern California at a late October or early November date to be announced shortly. Once again it will be in a hybrid format allowing attendees who do not wish to travel the opportunity to participate virtually. For those who are traveling, the meeting venue will be in north San Diego County.

Along with our usual symposiums and focus groups, next year’s meeting will include the addition of more workshops on the basics of clinical-translational study and clinical trial design, including crystal arthritis flare reporting, design of imaging and outcomes clinical studies, patient-reported outcomes, and modeling of hyperuricemia and of inflammation stimulated by crystals.

More information and details on our 2023 meeting will be sent in the coming months including the hotel venue, travel arrangements and the agenda, and 2023 award recipients, so please watch your email.

Journal Update

G-CAN’s first online journal, Gout, Urate and Crystal Deposition Disease, has officially launched, thanks to the efforts of Co-Editors in Chief and G-CAN members Tony Merriman and Tristan Pascart. An editorial board has been selected and there are already several submissions in the review process. The introductory manuscript is now available online and the full inaugural issue will be published in March 2023.

As we reflect on the past year – and the many milestones of the past 8 years of our organization – we would like to thank our members and participants for your continued support on this journey.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season,

Robert Terkeltaub, MD, President

Hyon Choi, MD, Dr. PH, Vice-President and Treasurer

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