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James F Howard Jr, distinguished professor of neuromuscular disease and chief of the neuromuscular disorders section gave the Betty Heath Baldwin Memorial Distinguished Lectureship in Myasthenia Gravis, Emerging Therapeutics in Myasthenia Gravis. Department of Neurology, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, April 2, 2018.

He was an invited lecturer at 70th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology Clinical Trials Plenary Session, A double-blind placebo-controlled study to evaluate safety and efficacy of FcRn-antagonist ARGX-113 (efgartigimod) in generalized myasthenia gravis in Los Angeles, April 24, 2018.

Dr. Howard was an invited speaker at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology, Complement inhibition in the treatment of myasthenia gravis in Sapporo Japan, May 24 where he also co-moderated one of the scientific sessions.

Several recent publications:

  1. Howard JF Jr, O’Brien F, Wang JJ: Distinct representation of muscle weakness in QMG and MG-ADL – Authors’ reply. Lancet Neurol. 2018;17(3):205-206. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30036-X.
  2. Smith C-J, Trout DA, Wang Y, Howard Jr JF, Montgomery SA, Su MA: IL-10 paradoxically promotes autoimmune polyneuropathy through S1pr1-dependent T cell migration. J Immunol. 2018;200(5):1580-1592. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1701280. Epub 2018 Jan 24.
  3. Vissing J, O’Brien F, Wang JJ, Howard JF Jr: Correlation between MG-ADL and QMG assessments of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) in the phase 3 REGAIN study. Muscle Nerve. 2018. doi: 10.1002/mus.26152. [Epub ahead of print].
  4. Crow RA, Hart KA, McDermott MP, Tawil R, Martens WB, Herr BE, McColl E, Wilkinson J, Kirschner J, King WM, Eagle M, Brown MW, Hirtz D, Lochmuller H, Straub V, Ciafaloni E, Shieh PB, Spinty S, Childs AM, Manzur AY, Morandi L, Butterfield RJ, Horrocks I, Roper H, Flanigan KM, Kuntz NL, Mah JK, Morrison L, Darras BT, von der Hagen M, Schara U, Wilichowski E, Mongini T, McDonald CM, Vita G, Barohn RJ, Finkel RS, Wicklund M, McMillan HJ Jr, Hughes I, Pegoraro E, Bryan Burnette W, Howard JF, Thangarajh M, Campbell C, Griggs RC, Bushby K, Guglieri M: A checklist for clinical trials: obstacles and anticipatory actions Trials. 2018 May 10;19(1):291. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-2645-0.

Several recent scientific presentations:

  1. Selleck A, Shah R, Howard JF, Farquhar D, Adam, K, Buckmire R: Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia: The Repeatability of Serial Botox Injections. Poster presented at the 139th Annual Meeting of the American Laryngological Association & Combined Otolaryngological Spring Meetings, National Harbor, Maryland, April 18-20, 2018.
  2. Howard JF Jr , Bril V, Mantegazza R, Szczudlik A, Beydoun SR, de Rivera FR, Rottoli MR, Piehl F, Van Damme P, Vu T, Ulrichts P, Verschueren K, Guglietta A, de Haard H, Leupin N, Verschuuren JJGM, and the ARGX-113 MG Study Group: A double-blind placebo-controlled study to evaluate safety and efficacy of FcRn-antagonist ARGX-113 (efgartigimod) in generalized myasthenia gravis. Paper presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Los Angeles, April 24, 2018.
  3. Howard JF Jr, Kaminski H, Nowak R, Wolfe G, Benatar M. Ricardo A, Hoarty M. DeMarco S, Rarzaneh-Far R, Duda P: RA101495, A Subcutaneously Administered Peptide Inhibitor of Complement Component 5 (C5) for the Treatment of Generalized Myasthenia Gravis (gMG): Phase 1 Results and Phase 2 Design. Poster presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Los Angeles, April 25, 2018.
  4. Li Y, Russo M, Massey JM, Hobson-Webb L, Howard JF, Chopra M, Fifer A, Balderson K, Ebdlahad S, Liu W, Guptil J, Li J: Tacrolimus Inhibits Th1 and Th17 responses in MuSK-MG Patients. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Los Angeles, April 27, 2018.
  5. Howard JF Jr: See the possibility for generalized myasthenia gravis patients – What Soliris can do. Paper read at the Industry Forum at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology, Sapporo Japan, May 23, 2018.
  6. Howard JF Jr: Complement inhibition in the treatment of myasthenia gravis. Paper read at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology, Sapporo, Japan, May 24, 2018.
  7. Howard JF Jr: See the possibility for generalized myasthenia gravis patients – What Soliris can do. Paper read at the MG Expert Meeting [simultaneous webcast], Tokyo, Japan, May 29, 2018.
  8. Howard JF Jr, Kaminski HJ, Nowak RJ, Wolfe GI, Benetar MG, Ricardo A, Hoarty MD, Demarco SJ, Farzaneh R, Duda PW: Complement C5 inibitor RA101495 for the treatment of myasthenia gravis. Epresentation at the 4th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, Lisbon, Spain, June 16-19, 2018.
  9. Jacob S, Guptill JT, Meisel A, Fujita KP, Patra, K, Howard JF Jr: Eculizumab reduces exacerbation rates in patients with AChR+ refractory generalized myasthenia gravis. Poster presented at the 15th International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases (ICNMD), Vienna, Austria, July 9, 2018.
  10. Verschuuren JJGM, Bril V, Mantegazza R, Szczudlik A, Beydoun SR, de Rivera FR, Rottoli MR, Piehl F, Van Damme P, Vu T, Ulrichts P, Verschueren K, Guglietta A, de Haard H, Leupin N, Verschuuren JJGM, Howard JF Jr: A double-blind placebo-controlled study to evaluate safety and efficacy of FcRn-antagonist ARGX-113 (efgartigimod) in generalized myasthenia gravis. Poster presented at the 15th International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases (ICNMD), Vienna, Austria, July 9, 2018.
  11. Jacob S, Murai H, Utsugisawa K, Nowak, RJ, Wiendl H, Fujita KP, O’Brien F, Howard JF Jr: Response to eculizumab in patients with AChR+ refractory myasthenia gravis recently treated with chronic IVIG. Poster presented at the 15th International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases (ICNMD), Vienna, Austria, July 9, 2018.
  12. Vissing J, Jacob S, Fujita KP, O’Brien F, Howard JF Jr: “Minimal symptom expression” in acetylcholine receptor positive refractory myasthenia gravis patients treated with eculizumab. Poster presented at the 15th International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases (ICNMD), Vienna, Austria, July 9, 2018.
  13. Mantegazza R, Fujita KP, O’Brien F, Howard JF Jr: Eculizumab shows consistency of improvement across muscle groups in patients with AChR-positive refractory myasthenia gravis. Poster presented at the 15th International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases (ICNMD), Vienna, Austria, July 9, 2018.
  14. Mantegazza R, Wolfe G, Muppidi S, Wiendl H, Fujita KP, O’Brien F, Howard JF Jr: Achievement of minimal manifestations in eculizumab treated AChR-positive refractory myasthenia gravis patients. Poster presented at the 15th International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases (ICNMD), Vienna, Austria, July 9, 2018.