Our Advocacy Success: First Awardees Announced for Department of Defense Lupus Research Program
May 17, 2018
The Lupus Research Program (LRP) that was established in 2017 because of our advocates’ hard work is a triumph for scientific exploration in lupus. Over 120 applications from top lupus researchers were received and 13 were just awarded today by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)! We congratulate all the researchers selected for this highly-competitive grant. Click here for the complete list of grantees.
The Lupus Research Alliance is honored to have led the effort in the establishment and development of the new program. In 2004, our advocates were able to get lupus included as one of many diseases eligible for funding through the Department of Defense Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Programs. Our persistence maintained that designation every year since, before a dedicated $5 million Lupus Research Program was established under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs operated by the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command in Ft. Detrick, MD. Click here to learn more about the role of the Lupus Research Alliance in effectively advocating for this dedicated program. Our President and CEO Kenneth Farber spoke at the 2017 Stakeholders Meeting held to gain consensus on key priorities for lupus research including improving patient quality of life, streamlining lupus trials and accelerating development of new treatments.
Four of the awardees have previously received funding from the Lupus Research Alliance to pursue their innovative work. Two – Drs. Ziaur Rahman and Betsy Barnes – are recipients of our 2018 Novel Research Grants, awards given to look at lupus from many perspectives, testing new theories about what causes the disease and why it has such varied and widespread effects in the body. Eight of the 12 institutions where Lupus Research Program research will take place are members of the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN) established by the Lupus Research Alliance to accelerate the clinical trial process needed for new treatments to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Based on the critical need for better treatments and the overwhelming response to the first call for grant proposals, our advocates just effectively secured an additional $5 million to continue the Lupus Research Program for Fiscal Year 2018. Next step – we’ve asked to double the coming federal budget to allocate $10 million in Fiscal Year 2019!
Use our Legislative Action Center to urge your legislators to support the Lupus Research Program!
