Dear Cure JM Families and Friends,

As we close out a busy spring, I want to begin with a heartfelt thank-you to the families, volunteers, walk leaders, donors, and supporters who helped make our spring Walk Strong events so successful across the country. Your energy, leadership, and commitment continue to strengthen our community and move us closer to better treatments and better outcomes for children living with juvenile myositis. 

Building on the success of our spring walks, we are now preparing for Walk Strong Across America, a summer campaign designed to engage families and supporters in all 50 states. This campaign celebrates the strength of a community united in pursuit of a future free from JM. More details about participation will be shared soon, but reply to me if you would like to learn more. 

I also want to share an important update on one of the most closely watched areas of juvenile myositis research: CAR-T cell therapy. Today, Cure JM is the most significant non-government funder of pediatric rheumatology research in the world. We continue to support education and enrollment for the ongoing CAR‑T clinical trial in partnership with Cabaletta Bio, with patients now being evaluated or enrolled at approximately 18 sites nationwide.

After two years of groundwork, we are seeing meaningful progress across leading institutions. Eight adolescents with juvenile myositis have been confirmed enrolled, additional adult patients are participating, and enrollment activity continues to expand at major Cure JM Clinical Care Network partners, including the University of Michigan, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. More patients are expected to move forward with treatment in the months ahead.

This national footprint builds on the growing evidence supporting CAR‑T as a potential “one‑and‑done” treatment approach.

Earlier reports from Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital documented sustained improvement in three young patients with juvenile myositis who received CAR-T therapy. A newly published pediatric CAR-T study also followed children and adolescents with life-threatening autoimmune diseases whose conditions continued to worsen despite standard treatments. Researchers reported that CAR-T therapy was generally well tolerated and associated with significant and sustained improvement in disease activity, even among some of the sickest patients.

These early findings help explain why researchers are studying whether CAR-T may one day help reset the immune system and support longer-lasting disease control for some patients. 

At the 2026 Global Conference on Myositis, researchers continued to share encouraging updates on CAR-T and other emerging therapies. We also heard important progress related to JAK inhibitors, another area where Cure JM helped lay early foundation by funding research at the NIH that identified JAK inhibitors as a promising treatment approach for juvenile myositis. Today, clinical trials in children are building on that work and exploring how these therapies may expand treatment options for families.

Taken together, these updates point to a larger shift in juvenile myositis research. We are seeing more clinical trial activity, more collaboration across institutions, and more promising approaches moving from scientific discussion into real study opportunities for patients and families.

This is exactly where Cure JM plays a critical role in supporting research, strengthening clinical trial readiness, educating families and clinicians, and helping connect families to accurate, up‑to‑date information as new opportunities emerge. Advancements like CAR‑T require years of investment in research, physician education, patient engagement, and trusted partnerships across the JM community. Our Emergency Research Fund helps ensure that Cure JM can respond quickly when promising opportunities arise and when urgent support is needed to keep clinical progress moving forward. 

While researchers continue to study how these therapies may work over time and which patients may benefit most, early results are providing new hope and signaling a period of real progress. Cure JM will continue to keep families, donors, and supporters informed as the research develops.

Thank you for being part of this work and for helping build a stronger future for children and families affected by juvenile myositis.

With gratitude,

Jim Minow

Executive Director

Cure JM Foundation