## Contact Information

Bethesda MD20892

iago.pinalfernandez@nih.gov

## Media Resources

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## Summary

Iago Pinal-Fernandez, M.D., Ph.D. is a Staff Clinician in the Muscle Disease Unit of the NIAMS/NIH. He joined in 2015 as a Visiting Fellow, then transitioned to a Clinical Fellowship before becoming a Staff Clinician in 2021. Dr. Pinal-Fernandez is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications at the Open University of Catalonia.

Dr. Pinal-Fernandez graduated from the Santiago de Compostela School of Medicine and completed his 5-year Internal Medicine residency in the Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona. He has two doctoral degrees, the first in medicine and the second in bioinformatics, two master's degrees, one in molecular medicine and the other in research methodology, as well as a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering.

## Research Statement

Dr. Pinal-Fernandez's research is focused on understanding the pathogenesis of inflammatory muscle diseases and on improving the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of patients with these conditions. To do so, he combines a variety of modalities of clinical and translational research. From a clinical perspective, he is involved in several natural history studies, and clinical trials to test novel treatments in patients with different types of myositis. Translationally, he is using bioinformatics and data science to understand inflammatory myositis by combining clinical, epidemiological, and molecular data.

## Scientific Publications

###             Coexisting autoantibodies against transcription factor Sp4 are associated with decreased cancer risk in patients with dermatomyositis with anti-TIF1γ autoantibodies.        

82(2).

###             Machine learning algorithms reveal unique gene expression profiles in muscle biopsies from patients with different types of myositis.        

79(9).

###             More prominent muscle involvement in patients with dermatomyositis with anti-Mi2 autoantibodies.        

93(19).

###             Identification of distinctive interferon gene signatures in different types of myositis.        

93(12).

###             Anti-Ro52 autoantibodies are associated with interstitial lung disease and more severe disease in patients with juvenile myositis.        

78(7).

###             Myositis Autoantigen Expression Correlates With Muscle Regeneration but Not Autoantibody Specificity.        

71(8).

###             Muscular and extramuscular features of myositis patients with anti-U1-RNP autoantibodies.        

92(13).

###             Muscular and extramuscular clinical features of patients with anti-PM/Scl autoantibodies.        

90(23).

###             Anti-NT5C1A autoantibodies are associated with more severe disease in patients with juvenile myositis.        

77(5).

###             Tumour TIF1 mutations and loss of heterozygosity related to cancer-associated myositis.        

57(2).

###             A longitudinal cohort study of the anti-synthetase syndrome: increased severity of interstitial lung disease in black patients and patients with anti-PL7 and anti-PL12 autoantibodies.        

56(6).

###             Antinuclear Matrix Protein 2 Autoantibodies and Edema, Muscle Disease, and Malignancy Risk in Dermatomyositis Patients.        

69(11).

###             More severe disease and slower recovery in younger patients with anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase-associated autoimmune myopathy.        

56(5).

###             Thigh muscle MRI in immune-mediated necrotising myopathy: extensive oedema, early muscle damage and role of anti-SRP autoantibodies as a marker of severity.        

76(4).

###             Longitudinal Course of Disease in a Large Cohort of Myositis Patients With Autoantibodies Recognizing the Signal Recognition Particle.        

69(2).

## Education

**Open University of Catalonia**Ph.D. in Bioinformatics (2020)

**Autonomous University of Barcelona**Master of Research Methodology in Health Sciences (2015)

**Autonomous University of Barcelona**Ph.D. in Medicine (2014)

**Vall d’Hebron Hospital**Internal Medicine Residency (2014)

**University of Santiago de Compostela**Master of Advanced Studies in Molecular Medicine (2010)

**University of Santiago de Compostela**Medicine Degree (2008)

## Experience

**Muscle Disease Unit, NIAMS/NIH**Staff Clinician (2021-Present)

**Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine**Adjunct Assistant Professor (2017-Present)

**Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, Open University of Catalonia**Assistant Professor  (2019-Present)

**Muscle Disease Unit, NIAMS/NIH**Clinical Fellow (2018-2021)

**Myositis Association**Research Fellow (2016-2018)

**Muscle Disease Unit, NIAMS/NIH**Visiting Fellow (2015-2018)

**Autoimmune Systemic Diseases Unit, Vall d’Hebron Research Institute**Postdoctoral Fellow (2015)

**Myositis Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital**Research Fellow (2013)

**Vall d’Hebron Hospital**Internal Medicine Resident (2009-2014)

June 2023

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