Autumn Meeting attracts record number of delegates

This year’s Irish Society for Rheumatology (ISR) Autumn Meeting attracted a record number of delegates with over 200 registered to attend.

The meeting, which was held in the Killashee Hotel, Naas, Co Kildare, on 12-13 September, featured a diverse array of presentations from leading national and international speakers. It was described as “a great success” by ISR President Dr John Ryan, Consultant Rheumatologist, Cork University Hospital.

A key highlight of the meeting was the awarding of the Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr Grainne Kearns, former Consultant Rheumatologist at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, at the Gala Dinner, where many of her mentees and former colleagues, friends, and family were in the audience. Dr Ryan praised her contribution to both the ISR and the advancement of the profession of rheumatology in Ireland. “She inspired so many people to pursue a career in rheumatology and it was lovely to hear about that and about her work from her former colleagues at the dinner,” he told the Medical Independent (MI).

Dr Kearns was presented with her award by her former colleague Prof Paul O’Connell, who gave a warm and engaging speech in her honour. Speaking to MI, Prof O’Connell said during her early career Dr Kearns had worked in the US in an exciting time in lupus where she was involved in some of the “very early ground-breaking studies on the genetics” of the disease.

“Then she came back to Ireland where she joined me in Beaumont, as the second rheumatologist, where I had been on my own for nine years, and it was great to have her. She was a superb general physician as well as an expert in lupus and she set up and led a superb lupus service and continued steady research in lupus while she was there. She has mentored quite a few young doctors, been involved in clinical research over the years, and above all that has been a wonderful colleague – someone who really contributed to the day-to-day hard work of running a rheumatology service,” he told MI.

The meeting  also featured a ‘refreshed’ approach to the poster sessions – a selection of abstracts were chosen for display on TV screens as ‘e-posters’ – with dedicated times for poster viewing during which the presenters were available to answer questions and expand on the contents. Dr Ryan said the session was dynamic and interactive and praised the quality of research submitted.

He thanked the ISR administration team, the board, and all the speakers and contributors for their help and hard work in making the meeting such a success. The next ISR meeting, the 2025 Spring Meeting, will be held in Sligo on 10-11 April.