iMyoS Symposium @ FOCiS – Unraveling autoimmunity through myositis and other rheumatic diseases

The International Myositis Society (iMyoS), established in 2019, joined FOCIS in 2025. iMyoS’s main goals are to increase awareness of myositis, support the development and harmonization of diagnostic criteria and standards of care for myositis, educate myositis specialists, promote interdisciplinary research and organize international myositis meetings, such as the Global Conference on Myositis. The symposium will explore the role of sex determinants and regulatory T cells in rheumatic diseases beyond myositis. The symposium will discuss the importance of classifying properly the different forms of myositis and of developing an understanding of their pathophysiology through the use of animal models. There will be a focus on the recently described cell-penetrating autoantibodies in myositis and on ICI-induced myositis.

Program

Chairs: Jens Schmidt and Olivier Boyer

1:00-1:10 “Presentation of iMyos, a new FOCIS member society, and introduction of the session” – Jens Schmidt, iMyos secretary

Coziana Ciurtin       (PhD, FCE REINVENT, London, United Kingdom)
1:10-1:35                   “Sex determinants on immune system functions”

Anne Pesenacker   (PhD, FCE UCL, London, United Kingdom)
1:35-2:00                   “Functional Treg pathways in inflammation”

Jens Schmidt           (MD,FEAN, FAAN, University of Göttingen, Germany)
2:00-2:20                   “Advances in the classification and animal models of myositis”

Olivier Boyer           (MD, PhD, FCE PAn’THER, Rouen, France)
2:20-2:40                   “Do autoantibodies enter cells in myositis?”

Yves Allenbach       (MD, PhD, Institute of Myology, Paris, France)
2:40-3:00                   “ Rheumatic toxicities of immune checkpoint inhibitors: the severity of myositis”