Thank you to all those who participated, presented, and planned a month’s worth of extraordinary programming, making May’s Myositis Awareness Month such a success! This dedication, insight, and passion have not only enriched TMA’s outreach but have also created lasting impact in raising awareness, building community, and empowering voices that too often go unheard.
Here are some of the many ways the community came together to raise awareness for myositis diseases.
- Diagnosis Days for each myositis form, including educational “Ask the Expert” webinars featuring TMA medical advisors and world-renowned myositis experts along with an informal “Café Chat” where families gathered with others affected by their form of myositis. See recordings of these sessions.
- Myositis Awareness Fundraisers, including a Golf Tournament and a Myositis Awareness Car Show.
- Meditation Mondays, a space for mindfulness and healing held every Monday in May.
- Empowerment Sessions featuring presentations by expert panelists on Living Well with Myositis and Care and Planning for our Myositis Journey. See recordings of these sessions.
- Autoimmune Myositis Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Webinar in collaboration with Nori’s Fight founder Julia Nickerson and Q&A with myositis experts Dr. Sonye Danoff and Dr. Julius Birnbaum. See recordings of these sessions.
- Bridging Experience and Expertise, a panel presentation featuring healthcare providers who live with myositis. See recordings of these sessions.
- Feel Good Friday Game Night: Jeopardy! organized by TMA’s Women of Color Affinity Group.
- Proclamation 50, an effort to secure official designations of Myositis Awareness Month in all 50 states. So far, TMA members have secured 100-plus proclamations in 33 states and counting!
- House Resolution (H.Res.) 277 was formally introduced in the US House of Representatives by Rep. Rich McCormick (Georgia). This ceremonial, nonpartisan resolution officially designates May as National Myositis Awareness Month, significantly increasing the visibility of myositis diseases within the highest levels of American government. Find out how you can help get this measure passed. Read the press release.
- TMA’s First Pitch for Myositis Awareness Campaign honoring long-time TMA volunteer Vance Robinson’s initiative to raise awareness by throwing the first pitch at nearly 40 baseball games.
- Myositis Awareness Month Open House at TMA’s offices in Columbia, MD. Thirty-two members of the community attended. And Dr. Myma Albayda presented a livestream Ask the Expert Q&A with more than 3,500 people attending or viewing the session afterward!
It’s not too late to donate to TMA in support of all the great work this community is doing to raise awareness of myositis and the challenges it creates for those who live with these debilitating diseases.