Skip to main content
ACR Convergence 2025 Main banner
Final Program


Schedule at a Glance
Legend
Program: Scientific Session
General Topic: Basic Science

It's Not All in Your Head: Neuroimmune Mechanisms of Pain

Sunday, October 26, 2025
3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Central Time

    Moderator(s)

  • CJ

    Caroline Jefferies, PhD

    Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
    Beverly Hills, CA, United States

    Disclosure(s): Amgen: Stock options or bond holdings in a for-profit corporation or self-directed pension plan (Ongoing); Eli Lilly: Stock options or bond holdings in a for-profit corporation or self-directed pension plan (Ongoing)

  • Anne-Marie Malfait, MD

    Rush University
    Oak Park, Illinois, United States

    Disclosure(s): Merck/MSD: Advisor or Review Panel Member (Ongoing); Roivant: Consultant (Ongoing)

    • Session Coordinator(s)

  • Polly Ferguson, MD

    University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
    Iowa City, IA, United States

    Disclosure information not submitted.

Pain is one of the most frequent complaints in individuals with chronic rheumatic disease, yet our treatment options are limited. Exciting new discoveries in the mechanisms of chronic pain are unfolding, shedding light on the importance of the immune system in the development of chronic pain.

Learning Objectives:

  • Recognize the important interplay of the nervous and immune systems in the development of chronic pain
  • Recall the importance of communication between neurons and the gut immune system in the development of pain responses
  • Describe the mechanisms of development of peripheral and central sensitization in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis

Presentations:

  • 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM Central Time
    The Gut, Neuroinflammation, and Pain

    Speaker: Dan Kaplan, MD, PhD – University of Pittsburgh

  • 3:30 PM – 4:00 PM Central Time
    Deciphering the Neuroimmune Interactome of Inflammatory Pain

    Speaker: Aakanksha Jain, PhD – Boston Children's Hospital

  • 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM Central Time
    Pain Mechanisms in the Pathogenesis of Osteoarthritis

    Speaker: Rachel Miller, PhD,BS – Rush University Medical Center