In the last years the field of Rheumatology has witnessed astonishing progress in the understanding and management of rheumatic diseases. A tremendous advance in dissecting the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning inflammation mainly in chronic arthritis has been made.

In this context, a new concept of joint homeostasis regulated by resident inflammatory and stromal cells was developed with significant consequences for the management of patients with chronic inflammatory joint diseases as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Spondyloarthritis, since high-definition analysis identified novel putative pathways involved in the regulation of the behavior of stromal and inflammatory cells within the target tissue across disease phases. However, a lack of knowledge is still present in the field of systemic Connective Tissue Diseases, arising the urgent need to identify and develop novel biomarkers with prognostic properties.

In our effort to seek biomarkers that can be supportive for the clinician in the various stages of rheumatological diseases, this conference will address new insights and progresses in the pathogenesis, outcomes and treatment strategies of the main rheumatologic diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis and systemic connective tissue diseases.

The meeting will allow for an intense discussion on current and future directions in precision medicine discovery and validation, their integration into personalized medicine approaches in Rheumatology, and to address future challenges in applying and developing precision medicine strategies for the management of rheumatic diseases.

Moreover, artificial intelligence platforms recently allowed great advances in personalized medicine approaches in cancer field. Therefore, the future challenge in Rheumatology, will be to apply and develop precision-medicine strategies for the management of rheumatic diseases.