Cure JM is an organization like no other.
Cure JM was founded in 2003 by a small group of volunteers—parents and grandparents—who wanted to change the world for children with a rare disease few had ever heard of—juvenile myositis, or JM.
Most organizations would need help to survive or have any impact at all. Not Cure JM.
Under the focused and intentional leadership of co-founders Tom and Shari Hume, Cure JM set its sights on fulfilling a mission with two seemingly monumental objectives. First, to create and fund a research program to attract the world’s foremost researchers in JM, to find better treatments and a cure. Second, to engage more doctors to improve their knowledge, familiarity, and experience in diagnosis and treatment, resulting in higher-quality care and support for families struggling with JM.
Monumental progress has been made on these two objectives, including funding $19M in research, four clinical trials in development, and 17 locations of Cure JM’s Clinical Care Network, including five Centers of Excellence.
And while the founders brought extraordinary vision and leadership to Cure JM, it was our families banding together to drive our success, including:
- 22 locations for Cure JM’s Clinical Care Network
- Five Cure JM Centers of Excellence
- More than $4 million has been committed to research and new drug development, including several clinical trials that, if successful, will bring improved treatments to our children.
- 20 chapters around the country allow parents, children, and teens to congregate and share in that mutual support that has always defined Cure JM as a special and welcome place for all families.
- Funded medical training for pediatric rheumatologists, bringing more of them into the fold as JM specialists.
- Provided resources and education to more than 3,000 clinicians and researchers as part of Cure JM’s medical education program
- Most importantly, our families provided the passion that meant Cure JM could successfully recruit the world’s leading JM doctors and researchers to our Medical Advisory Board, meaning that we had the “best of the best” as our partners in medical progress.
That we have succeeded in becoming one of the most effective rare disease research organizations anywhere is no accident. We would have never come this far without you and our families, side by side and step by step in our journey.
Our accomplishments result from the strength, resilience, and thoughtful engagement of Cure JM’s friends and families.
