M Toronto Myositis Centreat St. Michael's Hospital
A dedicated myositis clinic

Specialised care for every form of myositis.

One clinic where rheumatology, rehabilitation, and neurology see the patient together, measure every visit the same way, and follow a defined protocol from the first appointment.

Where rare disease meets routine excellence.
Refer a patient → For patients & families

Provincial centre of excellence
National leader in inflammatory myopathy

St. Michael's Hospital · Unity Health Toronto
Affiliated with the University of Toronto

M
Why the Centre exists

Myositis is rare. Care for it should not feel improvised.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy is uncommon, and most clinicians, including most rheumatologists, see only a handful of cases in a career.

Patients often spend years between the first symptom and an accurate diagnosis. Along the way, care gets pieced together: split across specialists who rarely share a chart, with rehabilitation that is generic when it exists at all.

None of that is anyone's failing. The disease is uncommon, and the ordinary clinic is not built around it. A patient with dermatomyositis, inclusion body myositis, or an antisynthetase syndrome needs a team that has seen the pattern before and knows what comes next.

The Toronto Myositis Centre is built for exactly that. Inside one clinic, myositis is the whole focus. The same team sees the patient, measures every visit the same way, and follows a defined rehabilitation protocol from day one.

Recognised as a provincial centre of excellence, the Centre is a national and international leader in the care of inflammatory myopathies. It is also the provincial referral point for adolescents with juvenile myositis moving into adult care, so that step is planned and supported rather than left to chance.

The rare, made dependable.
Our approach

What one place, built for myositis, actually means.

The difference is not experience alone. It is a defined, repeatable way of working that every patient receives, on every visit.

Dr. Ophir Vinik, Dr. Charles Kassardjian and Angelo Papachristos of the Toronto Myositis Centre
One clinic, three specialties: rheumatology, neurology, and rehabilitation behind the method.
01

One team, one chart

Rheumatology, rehabilitation, and ACPAC-trained advanced practice providers work from a single record, with a dedicated neuromuscular pathway to Dr. Kassardjian in neurology. That link is what lets the Centre read inclusion body myositis as clearly as it reads dermatomyositis.
02

Measured the same way, every visit

Standardised functional outcome measures at each appointment, so change is tracked rather than estimated. Nailfold capillaroscopy and point-of-care ultrasound are part of the clinical exam, not a separate referral and a second wait.
03

The V.i.P Protocol

A phased rehabilitation framework (Vinik-Papachristos) built for inflammatory myopathy. Progression is governed by defined criteria rather than intuition, so rehabilitation is structured from the first visit and adapted to the subtype.
04

Every form of myositis

Dermatomyositis, immune-mediated necrotising myopathy, antisynthetase syndrome, and inclusion body myositis. One door for every subtype, adults referred from anywhere.
Dr. Ophir Vinik and Angelo Papachristos, leads of the Toronto Myositis Centre
The team

Led by the specialties myositis actually needs.

The clinic is led by Dr. Ophir Vinik in rheumatology, with Angelo Papachristos as co-lead and head of rehabilitation. Dr. Charles Kassardjian in neurology is an associate to the clinic, in close collaboration through a dedicated neuromuscular pathway.

That mix is the point. Myositis crosses rheumatology, muscle disease, skin, lung, and function, so the team that reads it works together rather than in sequence.

Dr. Ophir Vinik, MD, FRCPC · Rheumatology · Clinical lead
Angelo Papachristos, PT, ACPAC · Head of rehabilitation · Clinic co-lead
Dr. Charles Kassardjian, MD, FRCPC · Neurology · Associate, dedicated pathway
ACPAC-trained APPs · Advanced practice assessment
Connected pathways

Myositis rarely travels alone.

The disease reaches skin, lung, and more, and it rarely stays in one clinic. Through Dr. Vinik's close affiliations across subspecialties, organ involvement is managed without a new referral cascade, and the routes a patient needs are already built.

Subspecialty affiliations
DermatologyRespirologyand further subspecialties
Defined care pathways
Rapid access

APP-RAC model

A direct line into advanced practice assessment when access, not diagnosis, is the barrier to care.

Surgical

Orthopaedic clinics

Dedicated routing to orthopaedic surgical clinics for patients whose care crosses into surgery.

Women's health

Pregnancy & rheumatic disease

A defined pathway to Dr. Mahendira's clinic for pregnancy planning and care in rheumatic disease.

One promise, two readers
For referring physicians

Specialised myositis care, returned to your shared chart.

We accept adults with confirmed or suspected inflammatory myopathy. Patients are seen jointly by rheumatology and rehabilitation, with neurology and subspecialist input as indicated. Reports return to your chart, so the patient stays yours.

Referral pathway & form →
For patients & families

A team that has seen this before, in every form.

You will not have to assemble your own care from separate appointments. One team follows you, tracks your progress the same way each visit, and knows what comes next. Specialised care for every form of myositis, every step of the way.

What to expect at the Centre →