Associate Professor of Medicine; Director of the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound and Injection Clinic; Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program
Dr. Albayda is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she also serves as Director of the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound and Injection Clinic and Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program. She earned her medical degree, cum laude, from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines. She completed her internal medicine residency and chief residency at New York Downtown Hospital–Weill Cornell Medical College, followed by rheumatology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins. She has advanced training in musculoskeletal ultrasound through USSONAR and EULAR, and serves as a mentor for USSONAR.
Dr. Albayda’s clinical and research interests focus on inflammatory myopathies, muscle imaging, inflammatory arthritis, and the use of musculoskeletal ultrasound for rheumatic diseases. Her work spans diagnostic ultrasound, machine-learning–based imaging analysis, clinical phenotyping of myositis autoantibody subsets, and biomarker development and clinical care for inclusion body myositis. She is a core clinician at the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center and is internationally recognized for her contributions to ultrasound education and myositis imaging, serving as faculty at major national and international ultrasound programs. She serves as a mentor to trainees in rheumatology, biomedical engineering, and international collaborators.
Education and Training:
- M.D., University of Santo Tomas, Philippines (Cum Laude)
- Residency & Chief Residency, New York Downtown Hospital–Weill Cornell
- Rheumatology Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- USSONAR MSK Ultrasound Certification; EULAR Advanced MSK Ultrasound Certification
- Summer School of Myology, Institute de Myologie (Paris)
Selected Publications:
1. Albayda J, Pinal-Fernandez I, Huang W, et al. Anti–nuclear matrix protein 2 autoantibodies and clinical features in dermatomyositis. Arthritis Care Res. 2017.
2. Albayda J, Christopher-Stine L, Bingham CO III, et al. Pattern of muscle involvement in inclusion body myositis: a sonographic study. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2018.
3. Albayda J, Dein E, Shah AA, et al. Sonographic findings in immune checkpoint inhibitor–associated arthritis. ACR Open Rheumatol. 2019.
4. Leeuwenberg KE, van Alfen N, Christopher-Stine L, Paik JJ, Tiniakou E, Mecoli C, Doorduin J, Saris CGJ, Albayda J. Ultrasound can differentiate inclusion body myositis from disease mimics. Muscle Nerve. 2020;61(6):783-788.
5. Albayda J, Mecoli C, Casciola-Rosen L, Danoff SK, Lin CT, Hines D, Gutierrez-Alamillo L, Paik JJ, Tiniakou E, Mammen AL, Christopher-Stine L. A north American cohort of anti-SAE dermatomyositis: clinical phenotype testing, and review of cases. ACR Open Rheumatol. 2021;3(5):287-294.
6. Kuchinad K, Nadeem M, Mehta A, Wu DS, Harris CM, Albayda J. Palliative care utilization in inclusion body myositis. J Clin Rheumatol. 2023.
7. Paik JJ, Casciola-Rosen L, Shin JY, Albayda J, et al. Tofacitinib in refractory dermatomyositis (STIR study).Arthritis Rheumatol. 2021.
8. Yoshida T, Inoue M, Kumon Y, Takamatsu N, Nozaki T, Albayda J, Izumi Y. Usefulness of skeletal muscle ultrasound as a screening test for sarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Int J Rheum Dis. 2024 Jul;27(7):e15257.
Review articles:
1. Albayda J, van Alfen N. Diagnostic value of muscle ultrasound for myopathies and myositis. Curr Rheumatol Rep.2020.
2. Albayda J, Demonceau G, Carlier PG. Muscle imaging in myositis: MRI, US and PET. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2022.
3. Yoshida T, Albayda J. Imaging Modalities in Myositis: A Clinical Review. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 2024 Nov;50(4):641-659.
4. Yoshida T, Albayda J. Practical utilization of sonography for the assessment of muscle diseases in rheumatology. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2025 Mar 13:102055. Online head of print
Case reports:
1. Albayda J, Hayes LR, Christopher-Stine L. Dancing muscles: the value of real-time ultrasound evaluation of muscle in myositis and mimics. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021;60(8):e275-e276.
2. Molina E, Albayda, J. Getting under the skin: ultrasound in dermatomyositis. Scand J Rheumatol. 2021;50(6):497-499.
3. Molina E, Christopher-Stine L, *Albayda J. On the nose: anti-MDA-5 dermatomyositis manifesting as perinasal swelling. Case Rep Dermatol 2022;14(1): 1-5.
4. Castillo R and *Albayda J. Refractory alopecia universalis associated with dermatomyositis successfully treated with tofacitinib. Mod Rheumatol Case Rep. 2022;6(2):199-202.
5. Gelber AC, Smith LN, Orbai AM, Son JJ, Albayda J, Zapata R, Wu TD, Lechtzin N. Snap, crackle and pop: From a painful finger to progressive dyspnea to popping neck pain. AM J Med. 2023 Feb;136(2):143-146.
6. Sengupta S, Law B, Sennett R, Jedrych JJ, Albayda J, Kang JK. Ruloxitinib for refractory PL-12 antisynthetase syndrome-associated angioedema-like panniculitis with clonal T-cell receptor gene rearrangement. JAMA Dermatol. 2024 Mar 1;160(3):363-366.
7. Mathias K, Konig MF, Lloyd T, Albayda J. Sarcoid myopathy: an insidious diagnosis that can mimic inclusion body myositis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2024 Sept 1:63(9):e266-e267.
