May is Lupus Awareness Month in Canada! Join us this May on Arthritis At Home as we share lupus highlights from #CRArthritis 2026.

Lupus is a complex autoimmune disease that affects nearly every part of life, including health, work, family and emotional wellbeing. 

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Sasha Bernatsky, a rheumatologist and James McGill Professor and senior scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Dr. Bernatsky defines what systemic lupus erythematosus is. We learn about the different types of fine particulate matter components in air pollution and how ozone can cause problems too. 

She concludes by talking about the connection between environment, genetics, and exposure to air pollution and development of SLE. There are ways to protect yourself from air pollution such as looking at the air quality index and limiting your time outdoor at times of poor air quality, regular use of N95 masks, using air filters and closing windows when you are indoor during times when air quality is bad. 

Additional learning resources

• Health Canada: Air quality and health
• BC Lung Foundation
• Volatile organic compounds
• Fine particulate matter air pollution and anti-nuclear antibodies

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are excited to raise awareness for World AS Day (happening on May 2) by sharing the #CRArthritis 2026 interview with Dr. Walter Maksymowych, a Professor in the Department of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. World AS Day is an annual day dedicated to people living with axial spondyloarthritis. 

Dr. Walter Maksymowych defines what biomarkers are and why it is so important in the diagnosis of spondyloarthritis. Biomarkers can also be an indicator of something that is happening inside the body. Dr. Maksymowych concludes by highlighting some key points from his workshop on translational science. 

About Dr. Walter Maksymowych 

Dr. Walter Maksymowych is a Professor in the Department of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. He is a co-founder and principal investigator at the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC), a group established to develop biomarkers and imaging technologies for this form of spinal arthritis. 

Additional learning resources

• JointHealth™ Education – Ankylosing Spondylitis 
• Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada
• Arthritis Consumer Experts’ About Axial Spondyloarthritis page

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are excited to share the #CRArthritis 2026 interview with Dr. Jean-Paul Makhzoum, clinician-scientist specializing in vasculitis at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal. 

Dr. Makhzoum shares highlights from a presentation titled “Lighting up the arteries: How imaging and therapies are reshaping large vessel vasculitis”. He defines what large-vessel vasculitis, including giant cell arteritis (GCA), is and the common and severe symptoms such as vision loss, observed in large-vessel vasculitis. He stresses that it is important to get GCA diagnosed and treated in a timely manner. A model that has been effective in Montréal for people living with GCA is the GCA rapid access clinic. 

About Dr. Jean-Paul Makhzoum

Dr. Makhzoum is an associate professor at the University of Montreal and the Director of the Vasculitis Research Program and GCA rapid access clinic at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal.

Additional learning resources

• Learn more about large-vessel vasculitis
• Vasculitis Foundation Canada
• SONIC-GCA Study
• Vasculitis Clinic, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Nadia Luca, an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa who practices as a pediatric rheumatologist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Dr. Luca discusses about the development of the national clinical guidelines for transition in rheumatology in Canada. 

In addition, she offers valuable advice to helping children and youth living with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and their families understand the challenges of transitioning from pediatric to adult care and why standardized guidelines are so important. 

Additional learning resources

• Arthritis Consumer Experts’ About Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis page
• Road to Adult Arthritis Care
• Cassie and Friends Society

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, Arthritis Consumer Experts’ President, Cheryl Koehn, and VP of Communications and Public Affairs, Kelly Lendvoy, discuss ACE’s 12th year of hosting #CRArthritis, bringing the latest research from the annual meeting directly to people with arthritis on their computer, phone or iPad.

ACE’s digital platform, Arthritis Broadcast Network (ABN), will air interviews with Canada’s leading rheumatologists, researchers, patient advocates, and arthritis health professionals on the ABN YouTube, Facebook, and X pages, using the hashtag #CRArthritis.

Are you a health care provider, patient, or researcher participating at the annual meeting? 

If you are participating in this year’s CRA & AHPA Annual Scientific Meeting, we would love to interview you! Please email [email protected] to book your interview. 

Additional learning resources

• Arthritis Broadcast Network
• Canadian Rheumatology Association
• Arthritis Health Professions Association

March is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month!

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are raising awareness about juvenile arthritis by sharing tips on transitioning from juvenile to adult arthritis care. Hear from Matthew Sholdice, Makayla Fox and Anusha Patel, young peoples living with arthritis and the McMaster team behind Road to Adult Arthritis Care, a website with resources for youth, caregivers, and health care providers. 

The tools below are available in English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Somali, and Spanish and available for download on the website: 

• Youth Transition Road Map: Transition to Adult Care
• Helping You Reach Your Transition Goals
• Parent and Caregiver Reference Guide: Transition to Adult Care

Additional learning resources 

• Road to Adult Arthritis Care website

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, host Cheryl Koehn speaks with Deidre Mackechnie, Executive Officer of the Australian Patient Advocacy Alliance, about her organization’s partnering with the Patients and patents campaign.

The interview will explore what the Australian Patient Advocacy Alliance does for patients, why the Patients and patents campaign is important for patients in Australia, and discuss ways patients can help share the information.

Additional learning resources

• Patients and patents: A grassroots education campaign on pharmaceutical patents
• About the Australian Patient Advocacy Alliance

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we speak with Dr. Stephanie Keeling about the results of the National Survey on Lupus conducted by Arthritis Consumer Experts and Lupus Canada. Dr. Keeling will review the Survey highlights, including the difficulty people with lupus face getting diagnosed and the challenges they face remaining physically active and happy in all aspects of their lives.

Dr. Keeling is a clinical rheumatologist and Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. She is a former board member and current member of the guidelines committee of the Canadian Rheumatology Association and a member and treasurer of the Canadian Network of Improved Outcomes in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (CaNIOS). 

Additional learning resources

• JointHealth™ insight - National Survey on Lupus Report
• Living with Lupus – Arthritis Consumer Experts
• JointHealth™ Education: Arthritis and Mental Health
• Canadian Network of Improved Outcomes in SLE (CANIOS) registry

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Ms. Julie Herrington, an Advanced Physiotherapist Practitioner with ACPAC (Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Arthritis Care) training working with the pediatric and young adult rheumatology teams at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. 

In her discussion with Cheryl, she shares highlights from her two posters. The first poster looked at an advanced physiotherapist practitioner’s level of safety performing juvenile idiopathic arthritis care. They compared quality and standards of care, safety, and performance indicators between patients receiving advanced physiotherapist practitioner care with those in the PR-COIN Registry. PR-COIN is a collaborative community where patients, parents, clinicians, and researchers work together to improve the health and care of children and youth with rheumatic conditions. 

The second poster highlights parents and teens’ feedback about their satisfaction with the advanced physiotherapist practitioner model of care in pediatric rheumatology. The study found that satisfaction level is high. The parents and teens felt that appointments were thorough and valuable.

Additional learning resources

• Pediatric Rheumatology (PR-COIN) Care & Outcomes Improvement Network
• Advanced Training in Extended Practice Roles in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Disease
• McMaster Children’s Hospital
• Arthritis Consumer Experts’ About Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis page
• Canadian Alliance of Pediatric Rheumatology Investigators

In this episode of Arthritis at Home, we explore an issue that affects every person who relies on medication to manage their disease: why are some medications so expensive, and what role do pharmaceutical patents play in access to affordable treatment? 

Host Kelly Lendvoy speaks with Cheryl Koehn, President, Arthritis Consumer Experts, about the launch of the new Patients and patents website as part of a global, patient-led initiative designed to help patients better understand how patent rules can influence the cost and availability of the medications they depend on. Together, they discuss how patents are meant to protect innovation but sometimes are used in ways that delay access to affordable options like biosimilars, and what patients and organizations can do to get involved in the campaign. 

Additional learning resources 

• Patients and patents: A grassroots education campaign on pharmaceutical patents
• The “Patients and patents” campaign infographic