Dr. Christopher-Stine has established a prospective myositis cohort at Johns Hopkins Hospital to undertake a longitudinal cohort study and initiate future intervention protocols for patients with autoimmune myositis. She is in the process of developing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary center for clinical research in which clinical, serologic, imaging, and pathologic information is collected in a systematic manner, with standardized follow-up at quarterly clinic visits. Additionally, sera will be collected bi-annually, including storage for future studies.
The data obtained from the NIH Myositis Database analyses will generate hypotheses from retrospective analyses. These hypotheses can then be directly assessed using this cohort’s prospective design in order to address many compelling questions that remain unanswered because of the lack of an existing cohort such as that proposed.
Dr. Christopher-Stine’s other research interest includes the etiology of statin-associated myotoxicity.
Dr. Mammen’s research is focused on:
- Understanding why the immune system targets muscle for destruction in dermatomyositis;
- Investigating the link between cancer and myositis, and;
- Studying muscle regeneration in myositis and other muscle diseases.
Research Staff
Grazyna Purwin, Research Coordinator, Clinical Trials Coordinator
Will Kelly, Programmer Analyst, Data Manager
Umar Zahid, Research Coordinator
