RheumMadness is Making a Comeback in 2027!
We are delighted to announce that RheumMadness is making a comeback in 2027, and this time it is going to be bigger and better than ever.
Everything you know and love about RheumMadness will still be there, including the podcast, newsletter, scouting reports, and the free online tournament at the center of it all.
In addition, scouting report authors will get to debate their teams in-person at RheumMadness Live, a two-day conference (March 1st and 2nd, 2027) in Durham, North Carolina. This conference will be filled with networking opportunities, fun, and in-depth analysis of the latest evidence in rheumatology. Our overall vision is to inspire a community of learners to take their skills in the interpretation and application of new literature to the next level. (And to have fun while doing it)
How to propose a team and apply to write a scouting report:
Send an email to David.Leverenz@Duke.edu with the following information by Wednesday, September 9, 2026:
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The topic you’d like to write about (more details on this below).
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The names of the people in your scouting report authorship group. Although your authorship group can be as large as you want, we can only support travel to RheumMadness Live for 3 members of each scouting report authorship team (we suggest 2 fellows + 1 faculty mentor).
What topic should you choose?
Similar to prior years, we are asking scouting report authors to base their team on one recent article published in the last 2 years that they think represents the most important topic for patients, providers, and/or researchers, both now and in the future. All types of papers are welcome: clinical trials, basic/translational science, cohort studies, guidelines, meta-analyses, etc. The only rule is that no one in your scouting report group can be an author or co-author of the study. Ideally, the paper on which your team is based should be emblematic of an important and rapidly evolving topic in rheumatology. For example, in RheumMadness 2025, the CD40L inhibitor in Sjogren’s team gave us a chance to not only explore the phase II study on which the team was based, but also the larger topic of new treatment options in Sjogren’s.
Each scouting report authorship group will be responsible for the following:
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Giving a short presentation about your team at RheumMadness Live (ideally 2 fellows + 1 faculty mentor from each group).
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Contributing to one episode of the RheumMadness Podcast about your topic (recorded during RheumMadness Live).
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Creating a short, written overview of your topic (~ 500 words)
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Creating a visual aid to help learners understand your article (template will be provided)
A note about our new sponsors:
RheumMadness Live (and the comeback of RheumMadness in general) is made possible through the generous sponsorship of our Platinum Partners (AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, and UCB), and our Gold Partners (GSK). Additional sponsors may be named before the meeting occurs. RheumMadness Live will include sponsor exhibits and a “mini-tournament” of topics presented by Platinum Partners that is separate from the broader RheumMadness tournament. Sponsoring partners will have no influence over the topics chosen for RheumMadness 2027 or any of the content in the full RheumMadness tournament. Sponsorship funds will be used to support the RheumMadness tournament, including honoraria for the Blue Ribbon Panel and content experts presenting at the meeting, and FTE support for key contributors to RheumMadness. No member of the RheumMadness leadership team will receive any direct financial compensation.
We would like to extend a tremendous thank you to our sponsors for making this possible!
