In This Issue:



🎈"Ask the Doc" Introduction to CAR Therapies - Dr. Anne Stevens

🎈Shared DNA Clues Point to Faster Treatment in JM

🎈Join Us for Our Biggest Season of Hope

🎈2025 Clinical Trials Enrolling

🎈Walk Strong Fall Schedule - Small Steps, Big Impact!

🎈Upcoming Regional Events, Training, and Online Events



For our complete listing of available resources, click here.

To learn more about our current research projects, click here.

To learn more about the Cure JM Foundation and how to join, click here.

In our most recent episode of "Ask the Doc," we sat down with Dr. Anne Stevens, a member of the Cure JM Medical Advisory Board, to shed light on the various forms of CAR cell therapies that are making life-changing impacts on autoimmune patients.

Dr. Stevens is fusing her decades of experience in the clinic with clinical trial prowess to bring hope to JM patients through new therapy development.

Watch and learn as Dr. Stevens breaks down what CAR therapies are, the differences in CAR cell therapies, and who the ideal patients are that may benefit from this cutting-edge research.

In a study funded by the Cure JM Foundation, scientists compared the DNA of more than 3,000 people living with myositis to that of nearly 12,000 healthy volunteers and found something striking. The major forms of myositis share much of the same genetic wiring. That overlap could help doctors borrow proven drugs from one group and test them faster in another, allowing them to find new drugs for JM.

What the Study Found

Scientists compared DNA from 3,206 people with myositis to 11,697 people without the disease. They discovered that the main types of myositis share many of the same genetic risk patterns. In simple terms, they found that JDM, adult dermatomyositis, polymyositis, and a myositis with the anti-Jo-1 antibody are genetically connected. That overlap means a drug that helps one group might also help another, including children with JM.

The season of "hope" is approaching, leading up to the biggest day of the year for Cure JM! Giving Tuesday, December 2, 2025, is a day of global generosity when billions of dollars will be donated to charity. 

As JM families, we want some of this powerful generosity to be directed at Cure JM to improve and empower the lives of our kids. Because JM is so rare, research is only made possible by families like yours, who deeply care about the futures of our kids.

Federal funding for rare disease research is more limited than ever before during these unprecedented cuts. Together, we must fight for continued progress through our own funding efforts.

Your participation in our holiday challenge helps us transform lives by turning hope into life-changing healing.



Watch this video message from Cure JM mom and Director of Family Engagement, Shannon Malloy. She explains how easy it is to join and why this special time of year is so critical to our success.

Learn more and join us at www.curejm.org/hopehero. 

Clinical trials are medical research studies in which patients participate as volunteers. They help researchers learn more about diseases and conditions and develop new treatments and medications. Learn more about clinical trials here.

Below are clinical trials currently recruiting juvenile myositis patients. JDM and JPM patients of various ages may be eligible for these trials. For detailed information about a particular trial, please get in touch with the study team directly.

CAR-T

CAR-NK

ANIFROLUMAB

For general clinical trial and research inquiries, reach out to Cure JM’s Family and Clinician Education Manager, James Tealy, at james.tealy@curejm.org.

You can join the fight by taking important steps towards progress and a cure! Even small steps make a big impact!

Walk Strong events feature fun and friendship as our families celebrate the power of community and walk for progress. There is fun for the whole family, including children, teens, and young adults.

We'd like to thank all of our families and communities who are walking with us. Your steps propel our progress!

2025 Walk Strong events:  RSVP here to join a walk in your region!

• Washington, D.C. - Saturday, September 20th
• Raleigh-Durham, NC - Saturday, September 27th
• Boston, MA - Sunday, October 5th
• Houston, TX - Sunday, October 5th
• Austin, TX - Saturday, October 11th
• Nashville, TN - Saturday, October 18th
• Northern California - Saturday, October 18th

2025 Online Meetings, In-Person & Educational Trainings - Save The Dates!

We're excited to share upcoming regional and online events that support our community.

This updated page is your single stop for "being in the know" on upcoming chapter events, support meetings, educational training, and more happening in person and online.

August 2025 Online and In-Person Events:

• September 22nd at 8:00 PM Eastern - "Monthly JM Moms' Connect Group" Register Now.
• September 24th at 1:00 PM Eastern - "Town Hall: Transformative Care Over 35 Years with Dr. Brian Feldman" Register Now.

• September 25th at 7:00 PM Eastern - "Monthly Grandparents' Connect Call" Register Now.

• September 27th at 10:00 AM Central - "Cure JM Family Day Pittsburgh" Register Now.

• September 27th at 5:00 PM Eastern - "Cure JM Advocate Council Meeting" Register Now.

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