Lupus Research Update
Lupus Research Alliance-Funded Researchers Present Discoveries at ACR

More than 70 researchers who have received funding from the Lupus Research Alliance contributed to the scientific dialogue on lupus at the ACR|ARHP meeting this year. Following are highlights of specific discoveries the organization has supported: Tiring Out Rogue Cells Learning from cancer research, a team of scientists led by the inaugural Lupus Insight Prize […] READ MORE

Lupus Kidneys Copy Tumors’ Tactic to Protect Themselves

October 4, 2018 Abnormal immune cells invade the kidneys in patients with lupus and can damage the organs so severely that they stop working. But the kidneys defend themselves from these attacks by disabling these rogue cells, according to a new study from two scientists funded by the Lupus Research Alliance. Cancerous tumors similarly protect […] READ MORE

Cancer Study Shows How Body’s Trash Pickup Fails in Lupus

October 4, 2018 Immune cells called macrophages that normally clear away the body’s trash don’t do their jobs in lupus. Now, a study of cancer partly funded by the Lupus Research Alliance may explain how these macrophages promote lupus. Douglas Green, PhD, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and colleagues found that […] READ MORE

Our Grantees Lead Investigation of Microbiome in Lupus

Sept. 5, 2018 Our microbiome includes all of the trillions of microorganisms that live in and on us. A recent review article about key discoveries on the role of the microbiome in lupus includes two researchers funded by the Lupus Research Alliance who may have discovered how some of these microbial passengers promote lupus by […] READ MORE

2017-18 Research Portfolio Summary

June 5, 2018 The Lupus Research Alliance is driven by one central goal — to improve the lives of people living with the disease, today and in the long term. We believe that scientific research is the most powerful way we can achieve this goal. Further, we believe that by both pushing the limits of scientific exploration and […] READ MORE

Why Is Heart Disease So Common in Lupus? New Study May Explain

April 24, 2018 Scientists funded by the Lupus Research Alliance may have discovered why patients with lupus are at risk for heart disease. Most recently, at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Dr. Mariana Kaplan and colleagues found that abnormal immune system cells are damaging patients’ arteries. Published in the journal […] READ MORE

Novel Tool Developed to Better Measure Lupus Trial Results

April 20, 2018 The Lupus Research Alliance Lupus Industry Council (LIC) met a key objective with the recent publication in the medical journal Arthritis & Rheumatology reporting on a new tool to better measure the effectiveness of potential drug treatments in clinical trials. The LIC aims to bring industry and academia together to work collaboratively, […] READ MORE

New Research Reveals How Mononucleosis Virus Could Promote Lupus

April 18, 2018 A new study by Lupus Research Alliance-funded researcher Dr. Matthew Weirauch of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio and colleagues might explain how a common virus that causes mononucleosis also boosts the risk for lupus. The virus may be turning on human genes that promote the illness. The scientists, including […] READ MORE

Lupus Research Alliance Announces Nine Promising Novel Research Grant Awards

April 11, 2018 Nine Outstanding Investigators Receive Funding for Innovative Research on Lupus Causes, Pathways, and New Treatment Development Today, the Lupus Research Alliance announced nine new Novel Research Grants to support paradigm-changing lupus research. To conquer the complexity of lupus, the Novel Research Grants explore lupus from many perspectives, testing new theories about what […] READ MORE

Immunosuppressant Sirolimus May Offer a Lupus Treatment Option

April 5, 2018 A new clinical study published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet found that sirolimus, a drug currently FDA approved to prevent organ transplant rejection, may offer a safe and effective treatment for lupus. In an accompanying editorial, Lupus Research Alliance Scientific Advisory Board Co-Chair Mary Crow, MD notes that in addition […] READ MORE

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