Dermatomyositis Took Her Old Life, But It Couldn’t Conquer Her Spirit
A disease that ravages muscle and skin made Melissa stronger and her skin thicker
Melissa’s day job checking patients into a busy ER demanded stamina, quick thinking and steadiness amidst the chaos. When the workday ended, she stepped naturally into another rewarding role: an active mother of a rambunctious toddler. But then, like a looter in a riot, dermatomyositis ransacked her world, stealing precious things it had no right to take. Inflammation sapped her muscle strength, her energy, her mobility, even her sense of self, reaching into motherhood in a way that still hurts to talk about today. Yet somehow, Melissa found the courage and resolve to weather the storm, seek out support and slowly rebuild.
Patients Story
It’s a ‘Bad Day, Not a Bad Life’
A Scleroderma Survivor Finds Self-Love and Grace
Kimberly was hard on herself, but eventually she replaced self-judgment with self-love. Instead of seeing her body as betraying her, she now sees health episodes as her body trying to get her attention to ask for care.
Patients STory
The Warrior Who Taught Us Lupus Doesn’t Discriminate
Doctors told Emmitt he had stage 3 kidney disease caused by systemic lupus that had gone undiagnosed and untreated for years. Yet, even with a diagnosis in hand, the truth still didn’t fully land.
Q&A WITH DR. SHAWN ROSE
Autoimmune Innovation Merits a “Greater Sense of Urgency”
“I sat in the chair for four long hours with these large-bore needles that hurt like hell, hooked up to this noisy, clanking machine watching the blood flowing through. It was a harrowing experience.
Patients First
Why Stable Research Funding and Trade Policy Matter for Patients
On the Biotech Nation podcast, Nkarta CEO Paul Hastings discusses how research funding cuts and pharmaceutical tariff increases impact patients’ access to treatments and cures.
Patients First
Our Clinical Trial Promise
Instead of asking people with serious diseases to reconstruct their lives around our studies, drug developers should be striving to design our research around their lives. Read about what Nkarta is doing to make clinical trial opportunities more accessible and equitable.
Nature
Boosted Killer Cells Show
Promise For Autoimmune Disease
“Supercharged ‘natural killer’ cells could become a potent way to reset a disordered immune system,” according to one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals.
CEO Fireside
Changing What’s Possible in Autoimmune Treatment
Nkarta CEO Paul Hastings, a lifelong patient advocate, breaks down natural killer cell therapy and how it could potentially transform the therapeutic landscape in autoimmunity.