Around the Rheum with Drs. Daniel Ennis & Janet Pope

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-HES) — and the uncertainty clinicians often face when distinguishing overlapping eosinophilic diseases. The discussion also highlights emerging therapies including IL-5 inhibitors, JAK inhibitors, interferon, and biologics, alongside the practical realities of access to treatment in rare disease care.Thoughtful, practical, and candid, this episode offers insight into multidisciplinary medicine, diagnostic humility, and caring for patients living with rare inflammatory diseases. It touches on the importance of being okay with uncertainty in the rare disease space.Dr. Luke Chen is a hematologist and Professor of Medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His clinical and research interests focus on rare inflammatory diseases and eosinophilic disorders. He is the founder of the Coastal Rare Inflammatory Diseases Program, supporting physicians caring for patients with rare diseases across Canada.Around The Rheum is produced by the CRA Communications Committee. A special thank you to the podcast team, Dr. Dax G. Rumsey (CRA Communications Committee Chair), Dr. Daniel Ennis (Host), Dr. Janet Pope (Host), David McGuffin of Explore Productions, and Erin Stewart (CRA) for leading production.Our theme music was composed by Aaron Fontwell.For more on the work of the Canadian Rheumatology Association, visit rheum.ca.

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.

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

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.

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. 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.

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 of RPILD, as well as prognosis and cancer screening and what's in the pipeline.Dr To is a Clinical Assistant Professor at UBC and serves as a consultant rheumatologist at Vancouver General Hospital and Saint Paul's Hospital. He started the Vancouver Coastal Health Myositis Clinic for which he was awarded the BC Society of Rheumatology Award for Innovation. His research interests are in QI and novel therapies for myositis.If you have questions you would like answered by the experts, please get in touch through the CRA Twitter account (@crascrrheum) or by email (Info@rheum.ca). And for future Medical Mysteries episodes, please get in touch if you have challenging cases you want to present on the podcast! A special thank you to the podcast team, Dr. Dax G. Rumsey (CRA Communications Committee Chair), Dr. Daniel Ennis (Host), Dr. Janet Pope (host), David McGuffin (Producer, Explore Podcast Productions), and Erin Stewart (Marketing and Communications Director, CRA) for leading production. Our theme music was composed by Aaron Fontwell. For more on the work of the Canadian Rheumatology Association, visit www.rheum.ca (http://www.rheum.ca/) or check out our X (Twitter) account - @CRASCRRheum

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.