Diversity and Innovation Infuse ACAAI Meeting Offerings in 2021

There will be something for everyone at this year’s ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting taking place from November 4 to 8. Put on by the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI), sessions this year will be delivered virtually and in person in New Orleans by experts from the fields of allergy/immunology, dermatology, pulmonology, and otolaryngology.

With this year’s meeting theme of “Promoting Innovation and Diversity,” program chair Brian T. Kelly, MD, MA, FACAAI, noted those dual themes will be interwoven throughout the conference, especially in sessions that address the “different ways that diversity impacts our patients, and how different communities and different ethnicities and different people of all different types experience allergy and immunology differently.”

Sessions over the 5 days kick off on Thursday with content focused on dermatologic allergy and treating and managing atopic dermatitis, with the session “Battle of the Biologics by the Bayou” featuring a debate on several treatments for the inflammatory skin condition: dupilumab, small molecule inhibitors, and new and emerging biologic treatments. The Thursday program will also encompass discussion on different types of skin color and what treatments work best.

Friday will see the return of the ever popular literature reviews, divided among the morning and afternoon sessions, in which notable salient articles published from November 2020 through October 2021 will be covered in a wide range of talks. Topics covered in the morning include basic immunology, updates on clinical immunology and pediatric allergy, and asthma and lower respiratory diseases, while the afternoon will focus on anaphylaxis, immunotherapy, and occupational and environmental allergy, among others.

Saturday sessions kick off with the Presidential Plenary address. Among the speakers is immediate past president of the American Medical Association, Susan R. Bailey, MD, who will cover how allergy practices found innovative new ways to continue to provide optimal and safe care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Symposia on this day will also cover sleep disorders, drug hypersensitivity, addressing mental health challenges, disparities in the air we breathe, and genetic testing’s role in diagnosing and managing immunodeficiency.

One of the most popular sessions this day is sure to be “Combatting Misinformation in Medicine,” which will cover how to recognize, combat, and effectively address medical misinformation regarding both the current pandemic and allergy and immunology practice.

The keynote address on Sunday, “Innovating Our Way Out of the Pandemic: Vaccines and Therapeutics,” will have contributions from Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, FASTMH, and Peter Marks, MD, PHD, on vaccine development and innovative therapeutic advancements from allergy and immunology specialists whose goal remains to find a way out of the current pandemic.

Monday will deliver content that features updated guidelines and how to implement them into practice immediately, as well as the continuous program assessment review, which will focus on what practitioners need to maintain their certification in allergy.

Other popular returns are the 7 for 11 sessions (7 experts have 11 minutes each to deliver), which this year cover dermatology and pediatric immunology and allergy; interactive Jeopardy that will test knowledge of dermatologic conditions; and the FIT Bowl, which will see 30 teams competing this year

Stay tuned to our ACAAI conference page for coverage starting Friday, November 5, and check out our preview video here.