Myositis research awards bring hope to those with rare diseases

Since 2002, The Myositis Association’s annual research funding program has awarded nearly $8.2 million in research support. We are pleased to announce our 2024 grant awards, funding disease-specific projects in myositis: Our first grant of $80,000 is awarded to Thomas Lloyd, MD, PhD, Chief of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, for his…

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A treatment that’s almost too good to be true

Dermatologist Dr. David Fiorentino is excited about the possibilities of cell therapies to treat autoimmune conditions like dermatomyositis (DM). In collaboration with rheumatologists and bone marrow transplant specialists at Stanford University, he is conducting a small, phase 1b clinical trial testing KYV-101, a CAR T cell therapy that targets a protein called CD19 on the…

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FMLA leave for clinical trial participation

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has long been a cornerstone of employee rights in the United States, providing eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for various family and medical reasons. In an opinion letter dated November 8, the US Department of Labor (DOL) clarified that FMLA leave can…

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NIH hosts visit for people with myositis

By Lindsay Key People living with myositis learned about research to advance understanding and treatment of the disease during presentations and a tour of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on Sept. 6. Myositis refers to a set of autoimmune diseases involving chronic inflammation of the muscles. An estimated 75,000…

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