May 1, 2021
Dear Friends,
2020 will forever be remembered as the year of COVID-19 with much sacrifice by all of us. Yet in many ways, it has also been a banner year for people with lupus. We have seen a true renaissance in research with significant breakthroughs and major new treatment advances. After a decade with only one treatment for lupus approved in half a century, we recently saw the approval of two treatments for lupus nephritis, a common but serious kidney-related complication of lupus. And, more treatments are on the way, possibly including anifrolumab which we hope will receive approval for lupus later this year.
Tales of Triumph
This tremendous progress is the focus of Lupus Awareness Month at the LRA with a new campaign called Lift Up Lupus. Our aim is to raise awareness of the disease and raise our community’s hopes with good reason. We will be sharing inspiring stories of achievement from researchers, doctors and people with lupus with posts and videos. Be sure to visit LupusResearch.org on World Lupus Day, May 10, when the LRA will bring a personal message from the dedicated super-star who’s become a leading champion for the lupus community – none other than Selena Gomez.
Fundraising programs throughout the month include our May 3 outdoor Willie Colon Charity Golf Outing which is on course to raise more money than ever before to support LRA’s Jean Davis Research Grant in honor of Mr. Colon’s late mother. We hope you will take the opportunity that virtual events offer to transcend the limits of geography and join us at LRA’s ManyOne Can. Walk with Us to Cure Lupus celebration on May 22.
Pushing Research Forward
To pursue our goal to transform the lives of people with lupus, the LRA is responding to the very current needs of the lupus community by continuing our unrelenting focus on science. We will host a major symposium at the American Association of Immunology annual meeting to share research that is unraveling the complexity of lupus – especially its heterogeneity that makes its impact vary so widely from person to person. The LRA is moving rapidly on many fronts to deliver on the promise of personalized medicine -which will help physicians determine which specific treatments to use with which people based on the individualized facets of their disease.
Join Us to Lift Up Lupus
Lift Up Lupus is more than a campaign slogan – it’s a rallying cry for us all to lift up lupus awareness from the unknown, lift up each other in a challenging time, and lift up lupus research to achieve so much more. Thank you for your continued support this month and throughout the year. Together, with all of you, our community of people with lupus along with their families, doctors, scientists, sponsors, donors – and advocates will turn lupus complexity into better, safer and more effective treatments and someday, a cure.
With warm regards,
Ken
Kenneth M. Farber
President and CEO, Lupus Research Alliance
P.S. I am proud to remind you that 100% of every donation goes to support lupus research programs because our dedicated Board of Directors covers all operating and administrative expenses. Thank you!
