What is translational science and how does it impact our CARRA community? To answer these questions, we turn to Dr. Joni L. Rutter, the Director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Tune in to hear about how she’s focused on breaking down barriers and speeding up the time it takes to get treatments from the lab to patients. Join us to learn about what translational science means for pediatric rheumatology, why it’s so important for rare diseases, and how data science could be used to help find treatments for rare diseases.

In this live episode recorded at the CARRA Reception at ACR in Washington, D.C., Claudette Johnson interviews Dr. Stacy Ardoin, the president of CARRA.

Their interview highlights some of the most exciting developments in pediatric rheumatology research today – from using the CARRA Registry to conduct comparative effectiveness research to determine which drug works best for which patient to harnessing the potential of biosamples to help answer some of the most important questions in that researchers and patients have.

Dr. Ardoin, who has been involved with CARRA since she was a fellow, also shares a few ways for patients and families to get involved with CARRA.

For kids managing a rheumatic disease, school can be a frustrating cycle of missed lessons and makeup work. While a 504 Plan for special accommodations can certainly help, families living with pediatric rheumatic diseases know that school-related challenges are inevitable.

There is very little evidence about the burden of school-related issues and the exact barriers that kids with pediatric rheumatic diseases face.

Mia Chandler, M.D, M.P.H, a pediatric rheumatologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, aims to change that. Last year, Dr. Chandler won a CARRA-Arthritis Foundation Career Development Award to support her research into Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and School-Related Concerns. Her research will assess the burden of school-related concerns – beyond physical and academic challenges to include social and psychological issues.

Learn more about her important research and the challenges that kids face at school in this special episode of the CARRA Podcast.