Prologue: 2016 Annual Meeting of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA)

Abstract

The 2016 annual meeting of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) was held in Miami, Florida, USA, and attended by rheumatologists, dermatologists, and representatives of biopharmaceutical companies and patient groups. As in previous years, GRAPPA members held a symposium for trainees to discuss their research in psoriatic disease with experts in the field. A strategic planning session was convened by the Steering Committee this year to review the work of GRAPPA since its inception in 2003. Other subjects featured during the annual meeting included a partnership with KPMG LLP (UK) to conduct interviews at research centers worldwide to analyze the process of care in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA); a discussion of the effects of interleukin 17–related pathways on the skin and joints in psoriasis and PsA; summaries of recently published treatment recommendations and related guides; 4 separate discussions of psoriasis patient examinations; updates from working groups in the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology and the International Dermatology Outcome Measures; a discussion of patient centricity from GRAPPA’s patient research partners; and an update of research and educational projects from GRAPPA. In this prologue, we introduce the papers that summarize that meeting.