EULAR

In this interview, EULAR President Dr Xenofon Baraliakos discusses the phase 3 OLINGUITO trial (NCT05785611), which evaluated the efficacy and safety of filgotinib, a JAK1 inhibitor, in adults with active axial spondyloarthritis. Dr Baraliakos explains filgotinib’s mechanism of action, the trial’s rationale, design, and key findings, and explores their potential clinical significance.

With numerous national and international meetings taking place throughout the year, choosing which conferences to attend can be difficult. While scientific programs remain a major draw, opportunities for networking, collaboration, career development and presenting research are often just as valuable. To help identify the meetings making the biggest impact across rheumatology, we asked members of the touchIMMUNOLOGY community to share the conferences they're prioritizing this year and what makes them worth attending.

Upadacitinib, a Janus kinase inhibitor approved for moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, has demonstrated efficacy in the phase 3 SELECT trials. In this interview, Prof. Jérôme Avouac (Cochin Hospital, Paris Cité University, France) discusses findings from an integrated analysis evaluating the long-term malignancy risk associated with upadacitinib in the overall SELECT population and in patients at higher cardiovascular risk.

Inflammatory RMDs are associated with an elevated cardiovascular disease risk in women, reflecting the combined effects of systemic inflammation and traditional cardiovascular risk factors. In this interview, Editorial Board member Dr Alessia Alunno explains the incidence and risk of CVD in people with rheumatic diseases. Dr Alunno discusses the aims, methodology of her study looking at CVD risk in women with inflammatory arthritis and the findings over a 12-month period.

Dapirolizumab pegol has shown promising results for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus in the phase 3 PHOENYCS GO trial. We spoke with Dr Janet Pope about a secondary analysis of the study, presented at EULAR 2026, investigating the treatment's effects on anti-dsDNA antibodies and complement proteins, and what these findings reveal about disease activity and potential clinical benefit.

ENX-CL-05-001 is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2a study investigating intra-articular Allocetra in patients with symptomatic moderate-severe knee osteoarthritis. In this interview, Prof. Philip Conaghan spoke with us about the clinical burden and risk factors associated with OA, the mechanism of action of Allocetra, and the aims, design and 6-month findings from ENX-CL-05-001, which he presented at EULAR 2026.

As part of our EULAR 2026 coverage, we spoke with Dr Milena Bond about the evolving role of imaging in polymyalgia rheumatica. In this Q&A, she discusses the unmet needs in PMR diagnosis, the development of the first international evidence-based imaging recommendations, and how these guidance documents could improve diagnostic confidence and enable more personalized patient care.

Frailty is increasingly recognized as an important syndrome in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), occurring more frequently and at younger ages than in the general population. In this interview, Editorial Board member Dr Elena Myasoedova explores the importance of frailty in the risk stratification and long-term management of RA, discussing the aims, design, key findings, and clinical implications of a retrospective cohort study investigating the incidence and risk factors for frailty in RA.

As part of our EULAR 2026 coverage, we spoke with Dr Vinod Ravindran about his key takeaways from this year's congress in London. In this Q&A, he discusses advances in reproductive rheumatology and pregnancy care, the importance of multidisciplinary management, ongoing challenges in access and awareness, and the value of international collaboration in improving outcomes for women with rheumatic diseases.