2024 International Annual Patient Conference

Engaging and exciting content will unfold over the three days while the myositis community is together. Concurrent sessions revisit essential tools for living with myositis, and allow attendees to navigate the meeting based on their diagnosis. Expert speakers include TMA Medical Advisors, TMA research grantees, clinicians from the Myositis Research Center at Johns Hopkins University, and investigators from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Full conference schedule now available!

Conference Schedule


Additionally, the 2024 conference includes several virtual breakouts, orientation, and networking opportunities.


Conference Breakout Sessions

The 2024 conference program in Baltimore features nearly 45 breakout sessions. Hot topics that will be addressed by experts and by fellow myositis patients include:

  • Applying Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness Fundamentals in Your Day-to-Day
  • Autoantibodies: From Bench to Bedside and Back Again
  • Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy: A Promising New Frontier for Myositis Treatment
  • Civilian and Military Environmental Risk Factors in Myositis
  • Clinical Trial Design: Industry Perspectives
  • Defining Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies (IIMs) and Classification Criteria
  • Determining Benefits Eligibility: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare, and Medicaid
  • Empowering Patients: Navigating Assistive Technologies to Stay Connected organized in Partnership with TMA Board of Directors’ Chair
  • Financial Self-Care: Easy Estate Planning for All Budgets
  • Finding Strength through Faith
  • Hazards of Immune Boosting Supplements
  • Health Equity: Bridging the Gap between Experts and Patients organized in partnership with TMA Women of Color Affinity Group
  • Highlights from George Washington University Myositis Clinic: Juvenile vs. Adult Myositis, Disease Flares, and More
  • Insurance Challenges
  • Intimacy and Relationships: How Chronic Illness Can Bring You Closer
  • Management of Dysphagia in Myositis
  • Patient Registries and Biorepositories in Myositis: MYOVISION and MYSTIC Outcomes
  • Pulmonary Rehabilitation
  • Scanning the Horizon at the Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
  • Sitting in Their Seats: Care Partner and Patient Perspectives
  • Skin and Hair Issues in Dermatomyositis
  • Successfully Adapting to Intravenous Immune Globulin (IVIG) Therapy for Myositis
  • Treatment of Myositis Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD): Immunosuppression and Beyond
  • Understanding and Overcoming Insurance Challenges
  • Veteran Roundtable: Navigating Veterans Administration Claims and Appeals organized in partnership with TMA Military Veterans with Myositis Affinity Group
  • What about the Kids? Helping Children of Any Age – Even Grown Ones – Understand and Adapt to Your Diagnosis

Conference Content by Form of Myositis

Some of the International Annual Patient Conference is organized by diagnosis and delivered to support you specifically. Wherever you are in your myositis journey, TMA has a medical advisor who can answer your most pressing questions.

Back to Basics

  • Back to Basics: Dermatomyositis (DM) and Antisynthetase Syndrome (ASyS)
  • Back to Basics: Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM)
  • Back to Basics: Necrotizing Myopathy (NM) and Polymyositis (PM): Types, Diagnosis, Treatment

Ask the Doc

  • Ask the Doc: Antisynthetase Syndrome (ASyS) and/or Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD)
  • Ask the Doc: Dermatomyositis (DM)
  • Ask the Doc: Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) – Diagnosed More than 5 Years
  • Ask the Doc: Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) – Diagnosed within the last 5 years
  • Ask the Doc: Necrotizing Myopathy (NM) and/or Polymyositis (PM)

Physical and Occupational Therapy

  • Physical Therapy (PT) for Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM)
  • Physical Therapy (PT) for Other Forms of Myositis
  • Occupational Therapy (OT) for All Forms of Myositis
  • National Physical Therapy Leadership ‘Ask Me Anything’ Panel

Latest Scientific Findings

  • Latest Research and Clinical Trials Insights for Dermatomyositis (DM) and Other Forms of Myositis
  • Latest Research and Clinical Trials Insights for Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM)
  • Severe Forms of Myositis and Complications: Antisynthetase Syndrome (ASyS), MDA5 Dermatomyositis (DM), Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), and Other

Living with Myositis

  • Hints and Hacks: Making Your Life Work for You
  • Mental Health: How Our Mindset Affects Our Myositis Journey organized in Partnership with TMA Women with IBM Affinity Group
  • Myositis Medications and Management

Keynote Speakers

Jessica BuchananJessica Buchanan

Jessica Buchanan will deliver the keynote address during TMA’s Opening General Session on Friday, September 6. Her talk, “Impossible Odds: A Story of Strength and Survival,” will inspire the entire myositis community. Together, we will face the everyday and extraordinary challenges of our lives with grace and the ability to move forward.

Jessica is an expert in impossible circumstances. Her unique journey of enduring kidnapping and captivity at the hands of Somali pirates in 2011 offers insights into resilience. Grit and tenacity are demanded daily when you live with myositis. Ms. Buchanan’s inspiring presentation will encourage us all to access our inner resilience by identifying our own autonomy and choice amid life-changing circumstances.

Jessica is a teacher, author, humanitarian, speaker, and survivor. On October 25, 2011, while on a routine field mission in Somalia, working as the Education Advisor for her non-governmental organization, Jessica was abducted at gunpoint and held for ransom by a group of Somali pirates for 93 days. Forced to live outdoors in deplorable conditions, starved, and terrorized by more than two dozen gangsters, Jessica’s health steadily deteriorated until, by order of President Obama, she was rescued by the elite SEAL Team VI on January 25, 2012. Jessica’s ordeal is detailed in her New York Times bestselling book, Impossible Odds: The Kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and Her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team Six.


Dr. Victoria Shanmugam, MBBS, MRCP, FACR, CCDVictoria Shanmugam

Dr. Victoria Shanmugam, MBBS, MRCP, FACR, CCD, Director of the NIH Office of Autoimmune Disease Research, will deliver the keynote address during TMA’s Closing General Session. Her presentation is titled “Accelerating Autoimmune Disease Research at NIH to Advance Treatment and Therapies for Patients.”

Dr. Shanmugam will share her exciting vision as the leader of the new, NIH-wide, cross-cutting autoimmune research strategy. Her office’s mission is to support high priority autoimmune disease research, identify emerging areas of innovation, and foster collaboration. Dr. Shanmugam will share her perspective on the current state of research in autoimmunity, rheumatology, and rare disease. Her presentation promises valuable insights into research that has an impact on myositis diseases.

In 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) conducted an analysis examining research efforts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) related to autoimmune diseases, publishing their findings in a report titled “Enhancing NIH Research on Autoimmune Diseases.” Based in part on the findings articulated in this report, Congress, via the Fiscal Year 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, subsequently directed the establishment of the Office of Autoimmune Disease Research (OADR) within the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH). Learn more about OADR.

Dr. Shanmugam is an experienced physician-scientist, rheumatologist, and academic leader. She completed her medical degree at Imperial College School of Medicine in London, and is a member of the Royal College of Physicians. Dr. Shanmugam joined the faculty of Georgetown University School of Medicine in 2007, and was a KL2 scholar at the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science. Her research focused on scleroderma and wound healing, as well as the interplay of the host immune system with the microbiome in patients with chronic wounds. A talented academic leader, Dr. Shanmugam subsequently served as chief of rheumatology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences from 2014 to 2021. She was the inaugural chair of the Clara Bliss Hinds Society for Women in Medicine and Health Sciences and is widely respected in the field of autoimmune diseases, having served in multiple leadership roles for the American College of Rheumatology.


Our Distinguished Speakers

More than 60 speakers will enlighten and entertain TMA attendees this year. Presenters include the keynote speakers above, as well as:

  • Myma Albayda, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Director, Rheumatology Fellowship Program, and Director, Musculoskeletal Ultrasound and Injection Clinic, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Myositis Center
  • Karen Alexander, supermodel; DM warrior; recipient, TMA Patient Ambassador Award
  • Anthony A. Amato, MD, BWH Distinguished Chair in Neurology and Chief, Neuromuscular Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
  • Kerry Baker, Accredited Claims Agent, Hill & Ponton, P.A.
  • Noelle Benach, LCPC, CST, certified sex therapist based in Baltimore, MD.
  • Laurie Boyer, MBA, District Administrator, Magnet Schools Coordinator, Curriculum Developer, Technology Specialist, St. Lucie Public Schools, Florida; Cofounded and Former Vice President, former Team Tommy Foundation; Chair, TMA Board of Directors
  • Annlise Calypso, MSN, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • M. Megan Campbell, JD, Co-Owner, Willow Legal Group; Board Member, Empowering the Ages
  • Lisa Christopher-Stine, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine and Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Co-founder and Director, Johns Hopkins Myositis Center; TMA Medical Advisory Board
  • Rachel Colletta, RN, IgCN, CRNI, Director of Educational Resources, Immunoglobulin National Society (IgNS)
  • Rodolfo Curiel, MD, FACP, FACR, Director, Division of Rheumatology, Associate Professor of Medicine, Director, Myositis Center, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health
  • Sonye Danoff, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Codirector of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program, Associate Director, Myositis Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; TMA Medical Advisory Board
  • Roy J. Film, PT, MPT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT, President, APTA Maryland; Assistant Professor and Director for Residency and Fellowship Education Program, University of Maryland School of Medicine
  • Allison Fisher, MS, OTR/L, CDP, Occupational Therapist, Johns Hopkins Myositis Center
  • Anna Gersten, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine; Director, Breathlessness Clinic; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Namita A. Goyal, MD, Professor of Neurology, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine; Co-director, UC Irvine-MDA ALS and Neuromuscular Center; Director, Neuromuscular Medicine Fellowship; Chair, TMA Medical Advisory Board
  • Stephanie Hunn, PhD, PT, Clinical Research Physical Therapist, Neuromuscular Department, Washington University School of Medicine
  • Hanna Kim, MS, MD, Head of Juvenile Myositis Pathogenesis and Therapeutics Unit, NIAMS/NIH; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, George Washington University
  • Maximilian Konig, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Director of the Cellular Therapy Program (Autoimmunity), Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Clarisse Labor, PT, Director of Community Engagement, APTA Maryland; Physical Therapist, Luminis Health
  • Valérie Leclair, MD, PhD, BScErg, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, McGill University; Member, TMA Medical Advisory Board
  • Thomas Lloyd, MD, PhD, Chair of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine; recipient, TMA Heroes in Research Award
  • Ingrid Lundberg, Professor in Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; recipient, TMA Heroes in Healthcare Award
  • Ursula Mecabe, JD, Attorney, Hill & Ponton, P.A.
  • Megan McGowan, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist, Johns Hopkins Myositis Center
  • Genevieve McKeon, CCC-SLP, Speech Pathologist at Johns Hopkins Myositis Center
  • Albert “Fin” Mears, DPT, Physical Therapist at Johns Hopkins Myositis Center
  • Christopher A. Mecoli, MD, MHS, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology and Director of Research Operations and Physician Lead for the Myositis Precision Center of Excellence, Johns Hopkins University Myositis Center
  • Payam Mohassel, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Codirector, Johns Hopkins Myositis Center
  • Justin Moore, PT, DPT, Chief Executive Officer, American Physical Therapy Association
  • Tahseen Mozaffar, MD, Professor of Neurology, Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, Irvine; TMA Medical Advisory Board and Liaison to TMA’s Board of Directors
  • Rubin Pagkatipunan, Jr, DPT, Physical Therapist, Johns Hopkins Myositis Center
  • Julie Paik, MD, MHS, Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University; Co-director of the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center; Director of Clinical Trials, Johns Hopkins Myositis Center; Chair, TMA Medical Advisory Board
  • Iago Pinal-Fernandez, MD, PhD, Staff Clinician, Muscle Disease Unit, NIAMS/National Institutes of Health
  • Colin Quinn, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology, Director of Neuromuscular Clinical Trials, University of Pennsylvania
  • Charles G. Raver, JD, Associate, Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.
  • Lisa G. Rider, MD, Head and Senior Clinician, Environmental Autoimmunity Group, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institutes of Health; Cofounder and Co-lead of the International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies (IMACS) Group; Chair of Medical Advisory Board, Cure JM Foundation
  • Adam Schiffenbauer, MD, Deputy Head and Associate Research Physician, Environmental Autoimmunity Group of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institutes of Health; TMA Medical Advisory Board
  • Mustafa Shameem, Senior Product Manager, Digital Product Management, Publicis Sapient; TMA Board of Directors
  • Sanchita Sharma, PsyD, Staff Psychologist, Maryland CBT Center
  • Eleni Tiniakou, MD, Assistant Professor of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins Myositis Center
  • Iazsmin Bauer Ventura, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago; TMA Board of Directors
  • Michelle Vogel, MPA, VP of Patient Advocacy, VP Business/Patient Development, IV Solutions RX
  • Theresa S. Walker, MA, CCC-SLP, Speech Pathologist, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
  • Victoria P. Werth, MD, Chief of Dermatology, Philadelphia Veteran’s Administration Hospital; Professor of Dermatology and Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center; TMA Medical Advisory Board
  • Erin Wilfong, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Rheumatology, Vanderbilt University
  • David R. Zook, JD, Chair, Faegre Drinker Consulting, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP