Vaccination can raise important questions for people living with inflammatory arthritis, from which vaccines to get and when, to how medications, inflammation, and age may affect vaccine responses. CAPA’s two-part webinar series explores vaccination from both a practical and scientific perspective, bringing together healthcare professionals and people with lived experience.

We encourage you to register and participate in these informative and engaging sessions. The webinars will be recorded and shared on our website and YouTube channel for those unable to attend live. Live captions in both English and French will be available.

Part 1 – Getting Vaccinated: What People with Inflammatory Arthritis Need to Know

September 9, 2026, 12:00–12:30 p.m. ET

Register for Part 1 here

Join Dr. Ines Colmegna, a rheumatologist and scientist, and Linda Roy, who lives with rheumatoid arthritis, for a practical discussion about vaccination for people with inflammatory arthritis. Bringing together clinical expertise and lived experience, they will discuss which vaccines may be recommended, when to receive them, how arthritis medications can affect vaccination, and what to know about vaccine safety, recommendations and coverage.

Part 2 – Behind the Shot: How Vaccines Work When You Have Inflammatory Arthritis

September 21, 2026, 1:00–1:30 p.m. ET

Register for Part 2 here

Join Dr. Dawn Bowdish, an immunologist and researcher, and Paulina Drohomyrecky, who brings both lived experience and a research perspective, for an accessible look at what happens behind the scenes when you get vaccinated. They will explore how the immune system responds to vaccines and how chronic inflammation, arthritis medications and aging can affect that response.

WEBINAR RECORDINGS (PART 2 COMING SOON!)

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Dr. Ines Colmegna is a rheumatologist and clinician-scientist at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Her laboratory is based at the Research Institute of the MUHC, and she leads the MUHC Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Program.

A major goal of her clinical and research work is to improve the quality of life and long-term health of people living with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory joint diseases. An important part of this work focuses on preventing infections and improving protection through vaccination.

Dr. Colmegna has led clinical trials evaluating vaccines in people with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Her randomized trial comparing high-dose and standard-dose influenza vaccines in rheumatoid arthritis helped inform current vaccination recommendations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also led a Quebec study evaluating the safety and immune response to COVID-19 vaccination in people receiving immunosuppressive treatments.

Her goal is to help patients make informed decisions about vaccination and to develop better strategies to protect people living with rheumatic diseases from preventable infections.

Linda’s life has been defined by resilience, hope, and a calling to help others. Adopted at 14 months, she understands the power of being given a chance and hopes to help others find that same encouragement and hope. Living with rheumatoid arthritis since the age of 35 has brought pain and loss, but it has also forged strength, patience, and courage. With the support of compassionate doctors, fierce determination, and steadfast love, she fought her way forward, losing over 250 pounds and enduring twelve surgeries to regain her mobility and independence.
Even as new challenges arise, Linda remains committed to giving back through understanding, comfort, and advocacy.

Dr. Dawn Bowdish is a Professor of Medicine (Master University) and Executive Director of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health. She and her team uncover how the immune system changes with age and how the aging immune system impacts responses to vaccines, increases susceptibility to respiratory infections, and contributes to long-term health challenges after recovery from infection. She sits on the Board of Directors of the Lung Health Foundation where she advocates to increase awareness, research, and advocacy for lung health.

Paulina Drohomyrecky (they/them) is a disability justice focused multidisciplinary artist and patient partner, whose work focuses on making art that reflects disabled experience, and centering the disabled experience in medical research.

They developed an autoimmune disease midway through their PhD in immunology, which changed their perspective on the research they were doing at the time. After obtaining their PhD, they worked at the Hospital for Sick Children running flow cytometry sorters but due to increasing disability they pivoted to dance, visual and textile art, and community arts facilitation. They have worked on their dance films in a producing capacity, as well as having been a long time participant in Toronto’s contra dance community and performed with Propeller Dance at Fall for Dance North 2024.

As well as working on patient partnership projects, Paulina is the Co-Director of Pushmakers – a national initiative focused on excellence in manual wheelchair dance.