Dunlop-Dottridge Lectureship:

Dr. Lisa Christopher-Stine
Topic:  Myositis

Dr. Lisa Christopher-Stine is a distinguished rheumatologist and leading expert in inflammatory myopathies. She is a Professor of Medicine and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she also serves as the Co-founder and Director of the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center, a recipient of the Myositis Association Heroes in the Fight: Heroes in Healthcare Award. She is the Principal Investigator of the Johns Hopkins Myositis Research Registry, which currently numbers over 3000 patients.

She has dedicated her career to advancing the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, including dermatomyositis, immune mediated necrotizing myopathies and inclusion body myositis. Her research has been instrumental in identifying novel autoantibodies, refining diagnostic criteria, and improving therapeutic strategies for myositis. She has authored or co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and is actively involved in international collaborations to improve patient outcomes. In 2010, Dr. Christopher-Stine and her research team discovered a novel autoantibody, anti-HMGCR, associated with autoimmune necrotizing myopathy, often in the presence of statin use.

Dr. Christopher-Stine is a member of the Myositis Association Medical Advisory Board and currently serves as the Chair of the Institutional Review Board at the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus. She is a longtime member of the Johns Hopkins Task Force on Women’s Academic Careers in Medicine and is the recipient of the Susan M. MacDonald Sponsorship Excellence Award for the Career Advancement of Women Faculty.

State-of-the-Art Lecture:

Dr. Michael Ombrello
Topic: Still’s Disease and AOSD Across the Age Spectrum

Dr. Michael Ombrello is an adult and pediatric rheumatologist and a principal investigator at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), where he leads the Translational Genetics and Genomics Section. His research focuses on discovering new genetic causes of inflammatory diseases in humans to enhance understanding of their pathophysiology and identify new therapeutic targets.

Dr. Ombrello has been a pioneer in the field of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) genomics, establishing an international collaboration that produced the first genomic studies of sJIA and continues to yield new discoveries nearly a decade later. He also leads a NIAMS research protocol investigating the genetics, pathophysiology, and natural history of Still’s disease in individuals of all ages. In addition to his work on Still’s disease, he has discovered and described several related forms of autosomal dominant immune dysregulation caused by variation in the gene encoding phospholipase C gamma 2. Dr. Ombrello has received numerous accolades for his contributions, including the Distinguished Fellow Award from the American College of Rheumatology, Merit Awards from NIAID and NIAMS, and two NIH Director’s Awards.

Keynote Lecture:

Dr. Elizabeth Volkmann
Topic: Holistic Approaches to Autoimmunity

Dr. Elizabeth Volkmann is an Associate Professor in the Division of Rheumatology at University of California, Los Angeles, where she serves as the Director of the UCLA Scleroderma Program and the founder and Co-Director of the UCLA Connective Tissue Disease-Related Interstitial Lung Disease (CTD-ILD) Program. Her research focuses on the discovery of novel biomarkers that predict response to ILD-targeted therapies. She also has an enduring interest in exploring how the gut microbiome contributes to the pathogenesis of ILD and systemic sclerosis.

Dr. Volkmann practices Holistic medicine, an approach that addresses the whole person, including psychological, spiritual, ethical, familial and societal, as well as the biological dimensions of disease. Central to her healing philosophy is the recognition of the uniqueness of each patient and the fostering of equality in the doctor-patient partnership.

She is also the proud founder of Women in Scleroderma (WINS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the careers of women scientists and clinicians working in this field.