RhAPP Conference | 2025 Agenda* 

WEDNESDAY, September 24, 2025

 

5:00 - 7:00 PM

Step Into Rheum Welcome Reception*

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7:00 - 8:00 PM

RhAPPARDY - Trivia Night*

Naomi Amudala, MSN, FNP-BC; Erin Siceloff, PA-C; and Lindsay Tom, PA
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THURSDAY, September 25, 2025

 

8:15 - 9:15 AM

Breakfast

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8:30 - 9:15 AM

Industry-Sponsored Event*

Change Starts with Zepbound®️ (tirzepatide) Injection 
Elizabeth (Libby) Allen, ARNP

Sponsored by Eli Lilly 

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9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Bootcamp Block

• Ask the Experts: Challenging Cases

  • ​Naomi Amudala, MSN, FNP-BC; Philip Mease, MD; Peter Merkel, MD; Amanda Mixon, PA-C;
    Eric Ruderman, MD; and Christy Vath, PA-C

• New APP Bootcamp: Clinical Pearls for New APPs

  • Kyle George, PA-C and Brittany Sedlacek, PA-C

• Pediatric: Bootcamp & Knowledge Bowl JIA, SLE, JDM, Autoinflammatory Syndromes

  • Holly Reid, CPNP; Ingrid Pan, PharmD; and Michelle Sutter, CPNP

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11:00 - 4:00 PM

Industry Forum

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11:45 - 12:30 PM

Lunch

 

11:45 - 12:30 PM

Industry Sponsored Event*

Shifting Scales: The Dual Challenge of Inflammation in Obesity and Psoriatic Arthritis

Elizabeth Allen, ARNP, FNP-C
Jenna Milliron, NP-C

Sponsored by Eli Lilly

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1:00 - 3:00 PM

IMID & Obesity Bootcamp

Naomi Amudala, MSN, FNP-BC; Amber Blair, PA-C; Jennifer Geremia, PA-C; and Jennifer Mackey, CNP

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3:00 - 5:00 PM

Rheum-Pulm ILD: Case-Based Insights Bootcamp

Heather Bachert, NP; Shannon Benesh, NP-C; Rachael Busch-Feuer, DNP; Heather Finlayson, PA-C; 

Cori Fratelli, FNP-C; Jessica Glenie, CNP; Jeannette Hart, PA-C; Heather Mambretti, PA-C; Barbara Chamness, APRN; 

Candace Ryan, PA-C; Wendy Simmons, PA-C; and Corinne Young, NP

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5:00 - 6:00 PM

Medical Symposium

Sponsored by Johnson & Johnson

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6:00 - 7:00 PM

Dinner

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6:15 - 7:00 PM

Industry-Sponsored Event*

Sponsored by Mallinckrodt

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7:00 - 8:30 PM

Welcome Reception & Exhibit Hall*

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FRIDAY, September 26, 2025

 

7:45 - 8:30 AM

Workshop Block 1

 

• Ultrasound

  • McKenna Cornforth, BSN and Nate Mathews, RMSK

• Joint Injections

  • Shannon Ghizzoni, PA-C; Andrea Mace, PA-C; and Jennifer Mylod, DNP

• DEXA

  • Michele Volansky, PA-C​

• Pediatric: Mental Health Screening and Resources

  • Shelby Brooks, CPNP​

• Rheumatology Emergencies

  • Julie Keegan Strosser, PA-C​

• Fibromyalgia Mimics

  • Vanessa Hill, NP-C and Christine Stamatos, DNP​

• Gout

  • Jessica Michaud, PharmD and Shayla Sanders, APRN​

• A Clinician's Guide to Sarcoid

  • Claudia Rivera Salas, DNP, NP-C, APRN

• Rheumatology Labs

  • Rana Aoufe, PA-C and Jackie Fritz, RN, BSN, MSN

​

8:45 - 9:30 AM

Breakfast

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8:45 - 9:30 AM

Industry-Sponsored Event*

An FDA Approved Therapeutic Option For RA, PMR, and pJIA:  Efficacy and Safety Across Indication

Heather Finlayson, MS, PA-C
Sponsored by Sanofi Regeneron

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9:45 - 9:50 AM

Opening Course Directors' Welcome

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9:50 - 10:50 AM

Plenary: Year in Review with Q&A

Jessica Farrell, PharmD and Audrey Gibson, PA-C

​

10:50 - 11:20 AM

Exhibit Hall & Break

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11:20 - 11:55 AM

Plenary: Dude, Where’s my B cell: Advances in Lupus Nephritis Management and B- Cell Targeted

Therapies with Q&A

Danielle Gatti Palumbo, PharmD and Monica Richey, MSN, ANP-BC
​​

12:00 - 12:45 PM

Lunch

​

12:00 - 12:45 PM

Industry-Sponsored Event*

ACHIEVING YOUR TREATMENT GOALS: Consider When a Treatment Switch in RA May Be the Right
Transition for Your Patients

Audrey Gibson, MsPAS, PA-C
Sponsored by AbbVie

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1:00 - 1:45 PM

Parallel Sessions

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• Rheum-GI Connection

  • Patrick Horne, FNP-BC and Heather Mambretti, PA-C

• Skin in the Game: Bridging Rheumatology and Dermatology

  • Laura Bush, PA-C

• Pediatric: Year in Review

  • Hannah Curry, PharmD and Kerry Hurlbut, CPNP​

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1:45 - 2:15 PM

Exhibit Hall & Break

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2:15 - 3:00 PM

Parallel Sessions

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• An Introduction to IgG4- Related Disease

  • Naomi Amudala, MSN, FNP-BC

• ​Osteoporosis

  • Heather Mambretti, PA-C

• ​The Use Of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound In Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

  • Heather Benham, DNP

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3:05 - 3:50 PM

Workshop Block 2

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• Cross-Specialty: Rheum – HemOnc

  • Peter Hakos, PA-C 

• ​Inflammation at the Heart of it All

  • Laura Ross, PA-C

• ​Rheumatic Disorders and the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors on Mental Health

  • Heidi Brown-Posey, PA-C and Talia Sierra, PA-C 

• Pediatric: Hands-on Pediatric MSK Ultrasound

  • Heather Benham, DNP; Clara Lin, MD; and Kelley Sherrard, US Tech​

• PharmD Roundtable

  • Tanya Golovanoff, PharmD; Amber Hudgins, PharmD; and Wendy Ramey, PharmD​

• Ultrasound

  • Nate Mathews, RMSK and McKenna Syphus, BSN​

• Artificial intelligence, The Future

  • Rachael Busch-Feuer, DNP, APRN and Eric Campbell, PA-C

• ​Basic and Advanced Joint Injection Workshop

  • Shannon Ghizzoni, PA-C; Andrea Mace, PA-C; and Jennifer Mylod, DNP

​

4:00 - 5:00 PM

Accredited Symposium: Unraveling Sjögren's Disease Pathophysiology, Systemic Manifestations, and
Evolving Treatments

Betsy Kirchner, DNP and Amanda Mixon, PA-C

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5:00 - 5:45 PM

Dinner

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5:15 - 6:00 PM

Industry-Sponsored Event*

Reframing Sjögren’s Disease
Not a syndrome, but a serious, systemic autoimmune disease that can be progressive
Erin Siceloff, PA

Sponsored by Novartis

​

6:00 - 6:45 PM

Posters & Prosecco*

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SATURDAY, September 27, 2025

​

7:30 - 8:15 AM

Workshop Block 3

 

• Ultrasound

  • Nate Mathews, RMSK and McKenna Syphus, BSN​

• ZEBRAS

  • Lorena Wilson, PhD, CRNP​

• Goals of Care and Treatment GCA/PMR

  • Will Saalfeld, DNP and Amanda Sell, PA-C

• ​Hold That Dose! Clinical Pearls for Managing Immunosuppression in Pediatric Rheumatology

  • Tara Bergland, PharmD and Courtney Kremer, ARNP

• Rheum Pain & Low Back

  • Vaheed Sevvom, PA-C​

• How Many Fingers Do You See? - Tools of the Trade from Fundoscopy to Capillaroscopy

  • Brandon Runyon, OD​ and Brandon Ko, DNP​

• What you Earn, and How you Earn it

  • Kyle George, PA-C; Robert Laugherty, PA-C; and Wendy Simmons, PA-C​

• Joint Injections

  • Shannon Ghizzoni, PA-C; Andrea Mace, PA-C; and Jennifer Mylod, DNP

• ​Raynauds - Refractory

  • Lisa Asfahani, PA-C

​

​

8:30 - 9:15 AM

Breakfast

​

8:30 - 9:15 AM

Industry-Sponsored Event*

From Diagnosis to Action: Early Treatment in Lupus and Lupus Nephritis

Alfred Kim, MD, PhD
Sponsored by GSK

​

9:25 - 9:30 AM

Opening Course Directors’ Welcome

​

9:30 - 10:05 AM

Plenary: Sjogren’s Disease: Beyond the Dryness

Robert Laugherty, PA-C and Tiffany Terrell, NP-C

​

10:05 - 10:40 AM

Plenary: Arthritis Across the Ages

Brandon Ko, DNP and Amanda Mixon, PA-C

​

10:40 - 11:15 AM

Plenary: Difficult to Treat RA

Cassie Dolecki, PharmD and Jeannette Hart, PA-C
​

11:15 - 11:45 AM

Exhibit Hall & Break

​

11:45 AM - 12:30 PM

Parallel Sessions

 

• Show Me the Way: Myositis Mysteries

  • Daric Mueller, PA-C ​

• Scleroderma

  • Jessica Farrell, PharmD

• ​Pediatric Morphea: Beyond Skin Deep – A Comprehensive Review

  • Quoc Do, MSN, PNP-BC

​

12:45 - 1:30 PM

Lunch

​

12:45 - 1:30 PM

Industry-Sponsored Event*

VISIBLE Results Across All Skin Tones with Tremfya

Douglas DiRuggiero PA-C​
Sponsored by Johnson & Johnson

​

1:40 - 2:25 PM

Parallel Sessions

 

• Vascular Exam for the Rheumatology APP: Takayasu Arteritis

  • Alice Fike, FNP

• ​PsA Cases and Comorbidities

  • Eileen Lydon, ANPC-BC

• ​Key Concepts in Pediatric ANCA-Associated Vasculitis

  • Jessica Bloom, MD and Holly Reid, CPNP

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2:25 - 2:40 PM

Break

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2:40 - 3:25 PM

Workshop Block 4

​

• Immunology to Include CAR-T - Changing Landscape

  • Betsy Kirchner, DNP​

• Nephrology

  • Mandy Trolinger, PA-C​

• Pregnancy, Fertility & IVF in Rheumatic Disease

  • Michele Cerra, MSN, FNP-BC and Laura Kennedy, PA-C

• ​Connecting the Dots: Putting Together a Problem List for a Unifying Diagnosis

  • Jamie Puschnig, APNP and Bethany Walker, CPNP​

• Radiology

  • Wendy Simmons, PA-C

• ​Behçet's Disease, the Basics and Beyond

  • Stacey Johnson, NP-C

• ​The Invisible Struggle: Understanding EDS

  • Heather Finlayson, MS, PA-C and Candace Ryan, PA-C​

• Helpful Herbs for the Rheumatology Patient and 30 Min Intro to Qi Gong for Providers and Patients

  • Chris Title, MSN, BSN, NP and Iris Zink, NPRC