Around the Rheum with Drs. Daniel Ennis & Janet Pope

Turning 18 doesn’t mean that a young person is suddenly ready to manage a lifelong illness alone. Between 25 and 75 percent of young people with rheumatic diseases experience a gap in care or are lost to follow-up after moving into the adult system — even though most will require ongoing treatment and monitoring.

Join pediatric rheumatologist Dr. Michelle Batthish as she chats with our hosts Dr. Janet Pope and Dr. Daniel Ennis about why transition should be a gradual process rather than a single transfer of care.

They explore how clinicians can assess readiness, help patients become more...

In this episode of Around the Rheum, hosts Dr. Daniel Ennis and Dr. Janet Pope sit down with Dr. Luke Chen for a deep dive into an approach to patients presenting with hypereosinophilia. Recorded at the Canadian Rheumatology Association (CRA)’s 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting in Halifax, the conversation explores how hematologists, rheumatologists, allergists, infectious disease specialists, and others work together to diagnose and manage these complex disorders.

Dr. Chen discusses the broad differential diagnosis behind eosinophilia — from Eosinophilic Granulomatosus with Polyangiitis (EGPA) and IgG4-related disease to parasitic infections to rare hematologic disorders to 'Idiopathic' Hypereosinophilic Syndrome (I-HE...

In this episode, Dr. Proton Rahman reflects on his journey from patient with spondyloarthritis to internationally recognized rheumatologist and newly appointed member of the Order of Canada. He shares how his lived experience shapes his approach to patient care, offering insight into empathy, trust, and connection in chronic disease management.

Dr. Rahman also discusses the influence of key mentors — including Dr. Dafna Gladman, herself an Officer of the Order of Canada — in shaping his path into research and his work in the genetics of psoriatic arthritis and beyond! The conversation highlights the shift toward polygenic risk and the...

Hosts: Dr. Daniel Ennis, Dr. Janet Pope

Guests: Dr. Marinka Twilt (Pediatric Rheumatologist, University of Calgary; ASM Program Committee Chair), Dr. Mo Osman (University of Alberta; Abstract Chair & ASM Planning Committee Co-Chair)

We’re coming to you almost live from Halifax for Day 3—the final day of the Canadian Rheumatology Association ASM. The day featured strong podium presentations, a high-yield state-of-the-art lecture on Still’s disease, and a powerful closing keynote on health equity.

Podium sessions highlighted emerging science across the spectrum, including sex-based differences in psoriatic arthritis linked to genetic and ep...

Hosts: Dr. Daniel Ennis, Dr. Janet Pope

Guests: Dr. Marinka Twilt (Pediatric Rheumatologist, University of Calgary; ASM Program Committee Chair), Dr. Mo Osman (University of Alberta; Abstract Chair & ASM Planning Committee Co-Chair)

We’re coming to you almost live from Halifax for Day 2 of the Canadian Rheumatology Association ASM. The day featured diverse podium science, practical workshops, and a lively Great Debate on DMARD tapering.

Podium sessions highlighted lupus research on cancer risk, rising costs and work disability in RA, and new biologic insights into flares, with B-cell changes supporting patient-reported disease activity in...

Hosts: Dr. Daniel Ennis, Dr. Janet Pope

Guest: Dr. Marinka Twilt (Pediatric Rheumatologist, University of Calgary; ASM Program Committee Chair)

We’re coming to you almost live from Halifax for Day 1 of the Canadian Rheumatology Association ASM. The day featured key updates across the field, including gaps in pediatric trials, growing recognition of autoinflammatory diseases, and the expanding role of genetics.

The SELECT-GCA trial reinforced that upadacitinib is effective for both induction and maintenance of Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA), with high relapse rates after stopping—supporting longer-term treatment. In pediatric ANCA vasculitis, rituximab show...

Autoinflammatory diseases are often considered rare — but, in clinical practice, they may be far more common than we think. In this episode of Around the Rheum, hosts Dr. Daniel Ennis and Dr. Janet Pope speak with Dr. Jason An, a Toronto rheumatologist with expertise in autoinflammatory disorders.

Together, they explore how these conditions differ from classic autoimmune disease, why adult rheumatologists should be thinking about them more often, and how to approach diagnosis when the presentation doesn’t fit neatly into familiar categories.

Dr. An also shares practical strategies for recognizing autoinflammatory patterns, interpreting genetic testing, an...

Dr. Kam Shojania is a Clinical Professor at the University of British Columbia, Head of Rheumatology at Vancouver General Hospital, and Medical Director of the Mary Pack Arthritis Program. He co-leads the DART Clinic at St. Paul's Hospital, a combined dermatology-rheumatology clinic focused on complex inflammatory skin and connective tissue diseases. Dr. Sheila Au is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Dermatology and Skin Science at the University of British Columbia and a medical dermatologist at St. Paul’s Hospital. She co-leads the DART Clinic and specializes in inflammatory and autoimmune skin disease, with a focus on morphology-based diagnosis an...

A must-listen for anyone treating autoimmune disease or cancer in the era of immunotherapy.

Dans cet épisode d’Autour de la Rhumato, le Dr Hugues Allard-Chamard discute de la santé planétaire et des moyens d’intégrer la durabilité dans la pratique médicale avec les Dres Stéphanie Tom et Elizabeth Hazel.

Did you know that the healthcare industry has a bigger climate change footprint than the airline industry? In this episode of 'Around the Rheum,' hosts Dr. Daniel Ennis and Dr. Janet Pope join in conversation about how rheumatologists can help fight global warming with Dr. Stephanie Tom, the Rheumatology Division Head at Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, ON and Vice President of the Canadian Rheumatology Association (CRA).

A challenging case from Newfoundland featuring a 22-year-old male with severe fatigue, weight gain, requiring a wheelchair and who had to stop his studies and move back with his parents.

Dr. Gladman is an Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and and Emeritus Scientist at the Schroeder Arthritis Institute and Crumble Research Institute.

Dr. Alison Clifford is a rheumatologist and associate professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Alberta. She has a research and clinical focus on Vasculitis, particularly giant cell arteritis. And she is an associate member of CanVasc.

Dr. Alec Yu is a PGY-4 resident doing his Rheumatology subspecialty training at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He has a particular interest in inner city health.

Highlights from Day 3 of the Canadian Rheumatology Associations 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting in Calgary Alberta

Day 2 highlights of the CRA Annual Scientific Meeting in Calgary with Dr. Daniel Ennis, Dr. Janet Pope, Dr. Mo Osman and Dr. Marinka Twilt.

Dr. Mo Osman and Dr. Marinka Twilt join Dan and Janet to break down the highlights of the first day of the CRA ASM in Calgary.

Anne-Laure Chetaille est rhumatologue adulte et pédiatrique au CHUL de l'Université Laval à Québec et professeure de clinique agrégée. Ses recherches portent sur les maladies auto-inflammatoires et l'arthrite juvénile idiopathique.

Dr. Sherry Rohekar is an associate professor in the division of rheumatology at Western University in London, ON. She has a MSc. in clinical epidemiology and focuses her research on clinical outcomes in patients with spondyloarthritis. She is currently on the executive committee of SPARCC.

Dr. Osman is a clinician scientist who is interested in better understanding the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis. He also uses point-of-care vascular devices for risk stratifying patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs).

Dr. Mendel is a scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University and a Rheumatologist at the MUHC. Her research focuses on patient safety in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases, with an aim to improve medication safety. She was the first author on the CanVasc consensus recommendations for the management of ANCA vasculitis 2020 update.

Dr. Mendel is a scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University and a Rheumatologist at the MUHC. She was the first author on the CanVasc consensus recommendations for the management of ANCA vasculitis 2020 update.

Dan and Janet are thrilled to welcome UBC's Dr. Fergus To to Around the Rheum for a fascinating conversation about Myositis.

In this discussion, they delve into the general categories of Myositis that rheumatologists need to know about, important clinical features that help differentiate the subtype before you get the panel back, a broad approach to understanding serologies, establishing a firm diagnosis, most common mimics and how to differentiate them from Inflammatory Myositis, the decision making process when selecting first and second line treatments, when to use IVIG for both induction and maintenance, advances in the treatment...

RA among First Nations and working with First Nations Communities

Le Dr Hugues Allard-Chamard, diplômé en rhumatologie, a également obtenu son doctorat en pharmacologie à l’Université de Sherbrooke. Il est professeur-chercheur et clinicien à l’Université de Sherbrooke.

Dr Benseler is the Director of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute and a Professor in the Department Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary

A Deep Dive into Lupus Nephritis with one of the World's leading Experts.

Host Dan Ennis has to admit that AI has had him a bit concerned. So he joined up with co-host Janet Pope to talk to a couple of Rheumatologists who have done a lot of thinking about where AI is taking us, to see if they could soothe his fears. Together, the University of Alberta's Dr. Carrie Ye and UBC's Dr. Carson Chin, take a look at the practical applications of AI right now, and what the future may hold for it. It is a fun and fascinating conversation and by the end Dan said he was feeling more...

"The patient was a 36 year-old male [...] He presented to the emergency department with a witnessed first-time, generalized tonic-clonic seizure. From the chart, he had a two-week history of poor sleep, worsening headache, and an inability to read."

And with that, we're off on our third edition of Medical Mysteries! The CRA's Holmes and Watson team, Drs. Janet Pope and Daniel Ennis take in the history of this challenging case from the University of Alberta's rheumatology trainee physician Dr. Justin Smith. Will they solve it before Dr. Smith reveals the diagnosis? As well as presenting a fascinating case...

Bienvenue à ce nouveau balado en français d’Autour de la Rhumato avec notre animateur, le docteur Hugues Allard-Chamard. Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir la docteure Alessandra Bruns pour une discussion sur l'échographie.

La docteure Bruns est professeure adjointe au Service de rhumatologie et directrice de la Clinique d'échographie de l'Université de Sherbrooke. Elle est également consultante en rhumatologie pédiatrique et échographie musculo-squelettique à l'Hôpital pour enfants de Montréal. Ses protocoles de recherche portent sur les contributions de l'échographie dans divers domaines.

Le docteur Hugues Allard-Chamard, diplômé en rhumatologie, a également obtenu...

Clinical Pearls from a world leading expert on Sjogren's Syndrome

Bienvenue à ce premier de deux balados en français pour cette nouvelle saison d’Autour de la Rhumato avec notre animateur, le docteur Hugues Allard-Chamard. Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir la docteure Valérie Leclair pour une discussion sur les myopathies.

Docteure Leclair est rhumatologue auprès des adultes à l’Hôpital général juif, affilié à l’Université McGill. Elle est également étudiante au doctorat en épidémiologie à l’Institut Karolinska à Stockholm, en Suède. Son intérêt de recherche porte sur les myopathies inflammatoires. Elle fait d’ailleurs partie de l’équipe de recherche de l’Étude canadienne sur les myopat...

This month, we're thrilled to have Dr. David Fajgenbaum on our podcast. He is a clinician scientist, rare disease patient, author, and all-around incredible human being.  On this episode, he tells the riveting true story of his battle with Idiopathic Multicentric Castleman’s Disease (IMCD), including his brush with death (a priest gave him last rites), and his subsequent journey to discovering his own cure. David later wrote a book about his journey called ‘Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action” and co-founded ‘Every Cure,’ a nonprofit organization aimed at unlocking the full potential of every approv...

"The patient in this case is a 73-year-old woman. [She] was previously healthy and not on any medications... She developed exertional shortness of breath for a few months, which prompted her to visit [the] emergency room. It was discovered that she had bilateral pleural effusion."

And so begins our latest episode of our popular new segment, Clinical Pearls and Medical Mysteries, in which two UBC Rheum Fellows try to stump Dan and Janet with this case, laying out increasingly complex details piece by piece. No spoilers, but we will say that Dan describes Janet's approach to the cas...

On this episode of Around the Rheum, we're thrilled to have Dr. Elie Karam as our guest talking about his journey with Axial Spondyloarthritis, a form of arthritis that causes inflammation and pain of the spine as well as other parts of the body, including the peripheral joints, entheses, gut and eyes.

Dr. Karam is Chair of the Canadian Spondylitis Association (CSA): a patient-led, not-for-profit organization focused on advocacy for Canadians living with this disease. www.spondylitis.ca

He is a self-described Ankylosing Spondylitis warrior, advocating as both a physician and a patient with the...

We're thrilled to be joined by Dr. Dissanayake for this episode on Autoinflammatory Disorders. And we're also happy to have Janet Pope back in the host chair again with Daniel Ennis.

Together, Dilan, Daniel, and Janet have a fascinating conversation, taking on basic questions like what defines an autoinflammatory disease and how is it distinct from an Autoimmune disease? What is the interplay between autoinflammatory and autoimmune disease? How can we group or arrange the different autoinflammatory diseases to make them a more approachable topic? How to take a proper autoinflammatory disease history? How to confirm a su...

In this episode, we continue our series of conversations on an important topic, Indigenous Health in Canada. Today, we will focus on the care of patients with rheumatic disease who live in remote communities. We will be visiting with Cynthia Munger, Community Health Representative at the Stellat'en First Nation in northern British Columbia, for a discussion on what remote communities are looking for in their relationship with visiting doctors, how to win the trust of First Nation communities to best serve patients there, and what the experience is like for visiting doctors who commit to this kind of work.

Dr. Hugues Allard-Chamard from the University of Sherbrooke joins Dan to take a fascinating deep dive into the world of IgG4-related disease. Together they tackle the basics, like what IgG4-related disease is, the clinical spectrum of the disease, the phenotypes that we should look for clinically, an approach to diagnosis, the best tissue to biopsy, and what to look for on pathology. They discuss common mimics of the disease, how to treat it, a look at the recently published open label study on use of Abatacept (of which Hugues was an author), how and when to use P...

Dr. Hugues Allard-Chamard from the University of Sherbrooke joins Dan to take a fascinating deep dive into the world of IgG4-related disease. Together they tackle the basics, like what IgG4-related disease is, the clinical spectrum of the disease, the phenotypes that we should look for clinically, an approach to diagnosis, the best tissue to biopsy, and what to look for on pathology. They discuss common mimics of the disease, how to treat it, a look at the recently published open label study on use of Abatacept (of which Hugues was an author), how and when to use P...