Lupus UK attends medical and research conferences throughout the year to learn about the latest updates in research and treatment, meet with healthcare professionals, and collaborate with other organisations. Unfortunately, many of these events don’t allow the general public or people with lived experience to attend because of strict regulations on sharing medicines information. This means that when we go, we also try to share what the community has told us is important and push for more conferences to be open to people living with the conditions they are about.
Each conference is slightly different, but after all of them we always come away full of ideas and new connections. There is so much research and innovation happening in lupus, and so many passionate and incredible people working very hard to improve the experience of people living with lupus. These conferences are full of inspiration and hope.
This year we have been to:
SLEuro, the European Lupus Meeting (ELM) – March 2026, Lisbon
ELM only happens once every two years, and this is the first time Lupus UK has attended. It’s a European-wide conference focused solely on lupus and research, and Lupus Europe are also involved in developing the programme so that the voice of people living with lupus is represented. It was an incredible few days of fantastic talks and presentations, and some great “fishbowl” sessions – which are where healthcare professionals, researchers, and people living with lupus discuss topics like the impact of steroids, diagnosis, or AI in healthcare, and anyone attending can join in. It was inspiring to be at a conference dedicated to lupus specifically, and for so many sessions to include someone with lupus as a speaker or a session chair (the people in charge of making everything run smoothly).
British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) conference – April 2026, Glasgow
This is the UK’s main rheumatology conference and takes place every year in different parts of the UK. The BSR conference is only for medical professionals and researchers, but charities are allowed to attend to share what they do with the rheumatology community. We had a Lupus UK stand and were in a group with other rare autoimmune charities called RAIRDA. A few of the team attend the BSR conference, as it’s a great opportunity to meet with UK healthcare professionals and researchers, from experts in lupus to people who don’t know much about lupus (yet!) and share information and develop new projects. We also attended some of the talks to hear about the latest research and met with other organisations.
EULAR conference – June 2026, London
Every year, the European-wide rheumatology organisation, called EULAR, has a conference which moves around different countries, and this year it was held in London. Around 14,000 people from 130 countries attend, including healthcare professionals, researchers, and organisations like charities and pharmaceutical companies. We didn’t have a stand at this one, but RAIRDA did have a stand. Like the other conferences, there are lots of talks and presentations on treatment and care across a huge range of rheumatological conditions, including lupus. At EULAR, we were mainly meeting with other organisations, particularly pharmaceutical companies, to find out some of the latest treatment/trial developments, support their understanding of what the lupus community wants and needs, and think about how we could work together to improve people’s lives and experiences. EULAR is the perfect time for these meetings as everyone is in the same place at once!
Lupus in Black– July 2026, University of Greater Manchester in Bolton
This conference was new for 2026 and brought together researchers, clinicians, and people with lived experience to explore how race, culture, and social systems shape the lupus journey. The programme included academic presentations, perspectives from people with lupus, posters, networking, and a panel discussion on “How to Communicate the Care We Need”. The programme was amazing, and we came away learning a lot and meeting some brilliant people connected to lupus. Caroline, our CEO, gave a talk on “Supporting people with lupus to live full & active lives”, discussing our work to reach and support the communities we currently under-serve, with a particular focus on the Black community.