CDI Expert Authors Juvenile Arthritis Review in Top Medical Journal

Affiliate Faculty Member Dr. Yukiko Kimura explains revolutionary advances in science and treatment for Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis in a New England Journal of Medicine article.

A comprehensive review article on juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)-–recently published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine—was authored by Yukiko Kimura M.D., an affiliate faculty member at Hackensack Meridian Health’s Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI).

In the review, Dr. Kimura and her co-authors-–Christy Sandborg, M.D., of the Stanford University School of Medicine, and Grant Schulert, M.D., Ph.D., of the Cincinnati College of Medicine—explored the evolving understanding of JIA.

JIA is a group of chronic pediatric inflammatory arthritis diseases formerly known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. These conditions include systemic, oligoarticular, polyarticular, psoriatic, and enthesitis-related arthritis.

The article provides a state-of-the-art synthesis of the clinical features, biology, genetics and treatment of these distinct JIA categories.

Before the year 2000, up to 40% of children diagnosed with JIA would experience moderate-to-severe disease with lifelong joint damage and disability. Dr. Kimura’s article details how the landscape has dramatically shifted since the introduction of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in the late 1990s.

These pharmaceutical innovations have greatly improved long-term outcomes, significantly reducing the joint destruction and physical disability that once plagued these young patients.

“This review not only captures the strides we’ve made in understanding the underlying mechanisms of JIA,” said Dr. Kimura, also the division chief of pediatric rheumatology at Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH). “It also highlights how advances in biologic and other targeted therapies have revolutionized care, offering real hope for children growing up with these chronic conditions.”

A board-certified pediatric rheumatologist, Dr. Kimura is an internationally recognized leader and founding member of the Childhood Arthritis & Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA), which spans over 150 pediatric rheumatology centers across the U.S. and Canada.

“Dr. Kimura’s experience as a clinician plays an integral role in translating cutting-edge science into improved clinical outcomes,” said CDI Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President David Perlin, Ph.D., “Such translational and cross-functional leadership in the field exemplifies the CDI’s mission to leverage scientific discovery for real-world impact on human health.”