Outreach, Education Meeting Strengthens NIAMS Coalition

Participants share programs and resources during poster session at the NIAMS Coalition meeting.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

More than 55 NIAMS Coalition members and 25 NIAMS and other NIH staff met recently for the biennial NIAMS Coalition Outreach and Education Meeting: Creating Connections for Science. Participants received updates from NIAMS and NIH leadership and shared best practices on collaborating with the institute and each other.

NIAMS director Dr. Stephen Katz focused on the three pillars of his institute’s mission: research, training and information dissemination. He stressed the importance of coalition members’ perspectives in NIAMS decisionmaking. “Everything that NIH does belongs to you as patients, researchers, health care providers and as members of the American public,” he said.

NIAMS deputy director Dr. Robert Carter moderated a panel discussion exploring several partnerships that coalition organizations have formed to advance the research enterprise. Panelists Tracy Hart, chief executive officer of the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation; Suzanne Schrandt, director of patient engagement at the Arthritis Foundation; and Dr. Michael Siegel, vice president of research programs at the National Psoriasis Foundation, discussed collaborations they have formed, ranging from grant awards to support for new investigators to educational programs for patients.

Attendees at the recent NIAMS Coalition outreach and education meeting

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

Attendees also learned from plenary speakers Eric Dishman, director of the All of Us research program, and Dr. Eliseo Pérez-Stable, director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.Coalition representatives led sessions on best practices in social media outreach, voluntary organizations and the FDA Patient-Focused Drug Development workshop process, tools and concepts in chronic disease management and implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act. NIH posters offered resources that organizations can share with constituents.
Anita Linde, director of the Office of Science Policy, Planning and Communications, said, “There was great energy in the room as new relationships were being forged and connections were strengthened. We look forward to building on this excitement with our coalition colleagues to further the NIAMS mission in the days and weeks to come.”