OA is a serious disease with substantial persistent morbidity, including pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, depression, and disability, impacting day-to-day functioning in a growing segment of the global population. The unmet medical need in OA is complex, involving accessibility barriers, acceptability concerns, and availability to treatment options. This module explores the unmet need in OA, discussing the barriers to treatment and what can be done to modify the course of the disease vs treating symptoms.

When this module is completed, you will receive the “Module 3: Addressing the Unmet Need in OA” digital badge! However, to receive one CME credit, you must complete all five modules.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, learners should be able to:

• Understand the comorbidities associated with OA and which result in limited treatment options
• Define the factors influencing access to OA care globally
• Use the OARSI 2019 Treatment Guidelines algorithm for core and non-core pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment of OA symptoms
• Identify the pipeline medications available that aim to modify the course of the disease

Module Three Syllabus:

• Global Impact on Society
•  The components of unmet needs in OA
  • Accessibility
    • Patient-controlled aspects
    • Healthcare provider
  • Acceptability
    • Patient perceptions and adhering to treatment
  • Availability
    • Limitations of common products
    • OARSI core treatments that effectively address the need
    • When core treatments are not enough
• The Future
• Summary
• Assessment questions

Meet the Instructors

• 
  Jeffery B. Driban

  Jeffrey B. Driban, PhD, ATC, CSCS is an Associate Professor in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology at Tufts University School of Medicine and a member of the Special and Scientific Staff at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Driban serves as the Chair of the OARSI Strategic Alliance Committee, Chair of the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance, Past Chair of the Athletic Trainers' Osteoarthritis Consortium, and an editorial member for several rheumatology and sports medicine journals.

  The goal of his research is to explore novel biochemical and imaging markers to better understand osteoarthritis pathophysiology and potential phenotypes. Dr. Driban received his Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from the University of Delaware. He received a Master of Education and Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology with an Emphasis in Athletic Training from Temple University. He completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in the Division of Rheumatology at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Driban also aims to raise awareness about osteoarthritis and promote primary and secondary prevention strategies for physically active individuals as the Past Chair of the Athletic Trainers’ Osteoarthritis Consortium and by serving as the Chair of the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance. Dr. Driban serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Rheumatology, Arthritis Care & Rheumatology, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, Journal of Athletic Training, and International Journal of Athletic Training and Therapy.

• 
  Anne-Marie Malfait

  Pain in osteoarthritis is the focus of my research group at Rush University. I have 24 years of expertise with animal models of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. During my 8-year tenure as Senior Principal Investigator at Pfizer, I was project leader in the Research Team for development of disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOADs). In this capacity, I was directly involved with all aspects of the DMOAD discovery process, including target identification, compound development, proof-of-concept studies, animal modeling, safety assessments, biomarker development and design of phase I clinical trials. Rush provides a unique environment for the study of musculoskeletal diseases and allows me to integrate my early research training (which focused on the areas of cartilage biology and proteases, animal models of arthritis and cytokine regulation), my prior exposure to clinical rheumatology, and my pharmaceutical experience, in order to establish a laboratory for translational osteoarthritis research.

• 
  Tuhina Neogi

  Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD is a Professor of Medicine and of Epidemiology at Boston University Schools of Medicine (BUSM) and of Public Health (BUSPH) and is Chief of Rheumatology.

  As a rheumatologist and epidemiologist her research has focused on osteoarthritis and gout, pain mechanisms in osteoarthritis, and methodologic issues of relevance for rheumatic diseases. She is a past chair of the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee, serves or has served on the board of international societies (Crystal-Associated Diseases Network (G-CAN), Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI)), and on committees for the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and International Association for the Study Pain (IASP), among others. Her work was recognized with the 2014 ACR Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award for outstanding and promising independent contributions to rheumatology research. She has led or engaged in development of new classification criteria for a number of rheumatic diseases and has led ACR treatment guidelines for gout and osteoarthritis.

  In addition to research, clinical work, and teaching, one of her key roles is to mentor trainees and junior faculty in musculoskeletal disease-related research. She developed a CTSI Research Career Support Program initiative, PRIME (Pathways to Research Independence and Mentoring Excellence), which aims to support early career mentored researchers to successfully transition to becoming independent researchers. Numerous mentees have received career development awards, including NIH K awards. In recognition for her mentoring excellence, she was awarded the 2016 Robert Dawson Evans Research Mentoring Award. In addition, Dr. Neogi serves on the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council at BUSM, and is part of a leadership group engaging in health equity initiatives across the institution.