The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT), an international organization, continues to evolve while staying committed to its founding ideals of being the focus for the development of well-validated outcome measures for randomized controlled trials and longitudinal observational studies. While the showcase of OMERACT is the biennial conference, the work continues year in and year out, conducted by individual working group members who are the engine for this organization, which provides a global focus for a data-driven, patient-inclusive consensus process.
The OMERACT 12 meeting was held in Budapest, Hungary, in May 2014 and displayed the efforts of 22 working groups, with 6 of these presenting in a workshop format (with breakout groups and plenary votes seeking endorsement of outcomes) and the rest as special interest groups (shorter sessions aimed at informing and endorsing the direction of working group projects). These working groups presented a broad portfolio of relevant research in 3 themed areas: disease-specific areas (including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis, vasculitis, and connective tissue diseases), imaging and biomarkers (including magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound), and methodology and cross-cutting themes (including pain, worker productivity, and understanding minimum important differences through Rasch analysis).
Patients have been integral partners in the OMERACT process since the first meeting held in 1992, and they were, yet again, highly central to the Budapest meeting. The provision of some financial support and the inclusion of a patient representative in the OMERACT Executive in the last few years have been part of the process of cementing this relationship.
Pain is highly important to most people with rheumatological conditions. As well as having a special interest group meeting on this topic, a preconference meeting was held to increase focus on this still under-studied complex area and to stimulate potential new working groups and collaborations [with organizations including ACTTION/IMMPACT (Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks/Initiative on Methods, Measurement, and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials), COMET (Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials), and COSMIN (COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments)]. The meeting brought together a broad range of pain experts, exploring issues such as the patient-important outcomes to be used in Cochrane summary of findings tables, and even debating whether chronic pain should be considered a disease in its own right.
OMERACT 12 saw the further evolution of the OMERACT Filter 2.0, with its expansion from the original filter focused on tool development, to the development of core outcome measurement sets starting with the appropriate stakeholder group inclusion and development of core domain sets. Much of this work was led by Professor Maarten Boers to whom we owe a great debt of thanks, and by Professor John Kirwan.
As well, the development of the OMERACT Handbook, which contains both methodological and organizational information [currently available on the OMERACT website (www.omeract.org)], has facilitated this process. The Handbook (which will undergo iterative development in the years to come) should provide a major reference resource for all those interested in outcome measure development.
The Budapest meeting also saw the continuation of the well-received OMERACT Fellows program, as well as the program for new attendees (or “Newbies”), to help newcomers understand OMERACT and its meeting processes.
Many people contributed to the organization and successful delivery of the OMERACT 12 meeting, and we thank in particular Ms. Valorie Thompson and Ms. Shawna Grosskleg for their hard work behind the scenes. We would also like to sincerely thank the members of the Business Advisory Committee and our sponsors, as industry not only provides a relevant partner in our discussions, but also provides financial support to OMERACT.
These OMERACT meetings deliberately remain restricted in size to enable small group discussion and extensive interaction between groups, while maintaining the ambiance of a true multidisciplinary, collaborative, friendly yet rigorous process of evaluating outcome measure development. OMERACT 12 was reduced in duration, in response to feedback from previous participants. OMERACT continues to have challenges, and as success has expanded interest in the organization, there are more working groups than can be included in 1 conference, and difficult decisions are required to work out whose work is at a suitable point for presentation. As OMERACT further evolves, we may need to explore involving working groups in new ways, such as through Web-based or virtual meetings.
Lastly, we would like to acknowledge the massive contributions of 3 members who have recently stepped down from the OMERACT Executive: Professors Peter Brooks, Maarten Boers, and John Kirwan. All brought unique expert skills matched with driving enthusiasm for good science, openness, and inclusivity, features that characterize the spirit of OMERACT.
We invite all interested researchers to consider participating in an OMERACT working group and attending the next meeting, to be held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, in May 2016.

OMERACT 12 — International Consensus Conference on Outcome Measures in Rheumatology
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Peter Tugwell, Canada
Lee Simon, USA
Vibeke Strand, USA
Dorcas Beaton, Canada
Clifton Bingham, USA
Philip G. Conaghan, UK
Maria Antonietta D’Agostino, France
Maarten de Wit, Netherlands
Laure Gossec, France
John Kirwan, UK
Lyn March, Australia
Jasvinder A. Singh, USA
George A. Wells, Canada
OMERACT 12 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Philip G. Conaghan, UK
Maria Antonietta D’Agostino, France
Laure Gossec, France
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Arvind Chopra
Ernest Choy
Maxime Dougados
Paul Emery
Dan Furst
Sherine Gabriel
Philip J. Mease
Peter A. Merkel
Girish Mody
Pamela Montie
Ted Pincus
Pam Richards
Kenneth Saag
Eduardo Samoyoa
Josef S. Smolen
Randall Stevens
William Taylor
Janet Woodcock
FELLOWS
Rohit Aggarwal
Fatma Alibaz
Pari Basharat
Elisabeth Brouwer
Peter Cheung
Roxanne Cooksey
Beyza Doganay Erdogan
Laura Durcan
Lihi Eder
Jonathan Epstein
Andrew Filer
Toby Helliwell
Frances Humby
Tanaz Kermani
Sarah Leggett
Ying Ying Leung
Daniel Malm
Melissa Mannion
Alexa Meara
Nataliya Milman
Ana-Maria Orbai
Yesim Ozguler
Kristine Phillips
Meaghan Pitts
Helga Radner
Malin Regardt
Bethan Richards
Joanna Robson
Martina Sadlonova
Antoine Sreih
Ann Taylor
William Tillett
Gunnar Tomasson
Karine Toupin April
Willemien Visser
Peter Wall
DELEGATES
Helene Alexanderson
Maher Aassi
Rieke Alten
Sibel Zehra Aydin
Marina Backhaus
Cheryl Barnabe
Susan Bartlett
Jennifer Barton
Scott Baumgartner
Dorcas Beaton
Clifton Bingham
Paul Bird
Anita Bjorn
Maarten Boers
Annelies Boonen
Pernille Boyesen
Peter Brooks
George Bruyn
Rachelle Buchbinder
Laurie Burke
Jason Busse
Ina Campbell
George Casey
Kuan-Yu Chen
Amit Chhabra
Ernest Choy
Robin Christensen
Lisa Christopher-Stine
James Chung
Gary Cline
Philip G. Conaghan
Mary Cowern
Maria Antonietta D’Agostino
Sabrina Dadoun
Nicola Dalbeth
Beverley Davis
Maarten de Wit
Cesar Diaz Torne
Haner Direskeneli
Michael Dohm
Maxime Dougados
N. Lawrence Edwards
Reuben Escorpizo
Stephaine Finzel
Oliver FitzGerald
Caroline Flurey
Frederique Gandjbakhch
Cecile Gaujoux-Viala
Dafna D. Gladman
Niti Goel
Susan Goodman
Laure Gossec
Amy Grahn
Rebecca Grainger
Elsie Hedalen Greibrokk
Shawna Grosskleg
Francis Guillemin
Ahmet Gul
Michael Hagan
Serena Halls
Gulen Hatemi
Ida Haugen
Gillian Hawker
Turid Heiberg
Philip S. Helliwell
Merete Lund Hetland
Sarah Hewlett
Catherine Hill
Elena Hitraya
Catherine Hofstetter
Maja Hojnik
Wijntje Cornelia Hoogland
Rod Hughes
Annamaria Iagnocco
Kei Ikeda
Jacob Jaremko
Fredrick Joshua
Peter Juni
Gurjit Kaeley
Ulrike Kaiser
Sevil Kamali
Helen Keen
Alexia Kelly
Stephen Kelly
Dinesh Khanna
John Kirwan
Geeske Kloppenburg
Tore K. Kvien
Chian Kwoh
Diane Lacaille
Robert Lambert
Robert Landewé
Manuela Le Bars
Seth Lederman
Shinn-Shing Lee
Ko-Jen Lee
Amye Leong
Daphne LeSage
Virna Levi
Toong-Hua Liang
Elisabeth Lie
Hsiao-Yi Lin
Isabelle Logeart
Cedric Lukas
Anne Lyddiatt
Sarah Mackie
Silvia Magni Manzoni
Walter P. Maksymowych
Michael Maldonado
Lyn March
Stoenoiu Maria
Lara Maxwell
Philip J. Mease
Victoria Menzies
Peter A. Merkel
Patricia Minnock
Ghaith Mitri
Shikha Mittoo
Pamela Lesley Montie
Andrew Moore
Shephard Mpofu
Gonca Mumcu
April Naegeli
Esperanza Naredo Sanchez
Lorna Neill
Enkeleida Nikai
Heidi Nugent
Jennifer O’Neill
Alexis Ogdie
Shigeru Ohno
Sarah Ohrndorf
Brian Ortmeier
Raymond Ostelo
Mikkel Ostergaard
Donald Patrick
Colin Pease
Jackie Peck
Susanne Juhl Pedersen
Fernando Perez Ruiz
Charles Peterfy
Carlos Pineda Villaseñor
Geraldo Pinheiro
Costantino Pitzalis
Christoph Pohl
Susanna Proudman
Oana Purcaru
Tamara Rader
Pamela Richards
Patrick Rooney
Johannes Roth
Lesley Ann Saketkoo
Catherine Sarver
Wolfgang Schmidt
Aki Shiozawa
Earl Silverman
Lee Simon
Jasvinder A. Singh
Victor Sloan
Wilma Smeets
In-Ho Song
Randall Stevens
Vibeke Strand
Maria E. Suarez-Almazor
William Taylor
Alan Tennant
Lene Terslev
Caroline Terwee
David Tovey
Peter Tugwell
Till Uhlig
Désirée M. van der Heijde
Yvonne van Eijk-Hustings
Marion van Rossum
Lilian van Tuyl
Suzanne Verstappen
Maria Voshaar
Athol Wells
George A. Wells
Paula Williamson
Daniel Windschall
James Witter
Thasia Woodworth
Acknowledgment
Financial support for OMERACT 12 was provided by the following pharmaceutical companies and their subsidiaries: Abbvie, USA; Amgen, USA; Astra Zeneca, UK; Bioberica, Spain; Bristol Myers Squibb, USA; Celgene, USA; Eli Lilly, USA; Genentech/Roche, USA; Genzyme, USA; Horizon Pharma Inc., USA; Novartis, Switzerland; Pfizer, USA; Quintiles, Netherlands; Takeda, USA; Tonix, USA; UCB, USA.
The Organizing Committee thanks the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for bursaries provided to enable young researchers to attend the OMERACT meeting.
The OMERACT conferences are possible only through the ongoing commitment of the chairs and their working groups, to whom we are grateful. A special thank you goes to Valorie Thompson and Andrea Speckin (Innovations Consulting Group) for organizing the logistics and running the conference. A special thank you also goes to Shawna Grosskleg of the OMERACT Secretariat for her ongoing support in many roles. Outside the Executive, special thanks go to Drs Victor Sloan and Christoph Pohl for help with the “Newbies” program, and very special thanks to Professor Francis Guillemin for his help in animating the Fellows program.
Articles presented at the OMERACT 12 Conference, Budapest, Hungary, May 7–11, 2014
Part 1: Pre-conference Meeting
Part 2: Working Groups
Part 3: Special Interest Groups I
Part 4: Special Interest Groups II
Part 2 will appear in the November issue.