The Spondyloarthritis Research and Therapy Network (SPARTAN), founded in 2003 to promote research, education, and treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and related forms of spondyloarthritis (SpA), held its 6th Annual Research and Education Meeting in July 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The overall theme of the meeting was entheses and bones in SpA, which included presentations on the anatomy and physiology of the synovial-entheseal complex; bone formation and destruction, and the effect of inflammation on bone; the Th17 axis, HLA-B27, IL23R, and ARTS1; and breakout sessions on epidemiology and registries.