Irene Blanco, MDIn recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) will host its first English/Spanish Twitter chat on Tuesday, September 30, 2-3 pm EDT. Dr. Irene Blanco, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology), will join NIAMS' Mariana Kaplan, MD, and Susana Serrate-Sztein, MD to discuss the latest advances in lupus research and respond to questions.
This is a NIH-sponsored initiative to raise awareness in multicultural communities about the availability of resources to help people with conditions of the bones, joints, muscles and skin. The NIAMS chat will focus on lupus nephritis (LN), a disease that disproportionately affects Hispanic women. Dr. Blanco's research seeks to improve the clinician’s ability to predict and ultimately improve the outcome of lupus. Furthermore, Dr. Blanco is trying to find new biomarkers for LN that better correlate with disease activity, leading to early diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Blanco is an expert in the clinical aspects of lupus and has been a partner in the NIAMS Multicultural Outreach Initiative (NMOI), an effort to strategically raise awareness in multicultural communities about the availability of NIAMS and NIH resources to help people with conditions of the bones, joints, muscles, and skin.
"Our warmest congratulations to Dr. Blanco for being selected to participate in this important and exciting venture. We are pleased that her expertise on lupus is being recognized, and now will be shared to help patients on a national level," said Dr. Chaim Putterman, Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) and of Microbiology & Immunology.
Tweets for this chat will be posted in English and Spanish, and questions will be answered in the language in which they were posted. Individuals concerned with lupus and Hispanic communities are encouraged to participate. For more information see the NIAMS website.
