Archive of past Lupus Innovation Award (LIA)

2021 Funded Grants

• Identification of new genes that restrict TLR7 responses to self nucleic acids

  Gregory Barton, PhD
  University of California, Berkeley
  

• Role of novel metabolite-receptor pathway in protection from lupus

  Jason Cyster, PhD
  University of California, San Francisco
  

• Linking the microbiome and the B cell repertoire to lupus nephritis

  Bart Lambrecht, MD, PhD
  VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research
  

• Targeted regulatory T cells (Tregs) to treat lupus nephritis

  Joshua Ooi, PhD
  Monash University
  

• Mechanisms of SCARF1 in regulating SLE

  Zaida Ramirez-Ortiz, PhD
  University of Massachusetts Medical School
  

• Beyond serology: Improving the prediction and treatment of lupus with single cell Omics

  Joanne Reed, PhD
  Westmead Institute
  

• The role of polyamine catabolism in the development of lupus

  Betty Tsao, PhD
  Medical University of South Carolina
  

• Diversity of anti-NMDA receptor autoantibodies in lupus patients

  Lonnie Wollmuth, PhD
  Stony Brook University
  

2020 Funded Grants

• Erythroid mitochondrial dysfunction in lupus pathogenesis

  Simone Caielli, PhD
  Weill Cornell Medical College
  

• Mechanisms of vascular injury and dysfunction in pediatric lupus

  Joyce Chang, MD
  Boston Children's Hospital
  

• cGAMP as an immune transmitter of the interferon response

  Keith B. Elkon, MD
  University of Washington
  

• Targeting a novel population of innate-like CD8+ Treg in lupus

  Vipin Kumar, PhD
  The Regents of University of California, San Diego
  

• Modeling cognitive impairment in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

  Zahi Touma, MD, PhD
  University Health Network
  

• Targeting mTORC2 for lupus treatment

  Hu Zeng, PhD
  Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
  

2019 Funded Grants

• The role of microglial subsets in driving neuropsychiatric symptoms of SLE

  Carla Cuda, PhD
  Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
  

• Circadian dysregulation of immune function in SLE

  Anne Davidson, MBBS
  Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research
  

• Contribution of dysregulated granulopoiesis to SLE pathogenesis

  Neelakshi Jog, PhD
  Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
  

• Establishing the role of apoptosis and mtDNA in the pathobiology of lupus

  Benjamin Kile, PhD
  Monash University, Clayton, Australia
  

• New mechanisms for thrombosis and atherosclerosis in SLE and APS

  Yee Ling Wu, PhD
  Loyola University Chicago Health Sciences Division
  

2018 Funded Grants

• Ferroptosis as a novel driver of inflammation in lupus nephritis

  Erika Boesen, PhD
  University of Nebraska Medical Center
  

• Lymphatic regulation and photosensitivity

  Theresa Lu, MD, PhD
  The Hospital for Special Surgery
  

• Age-associated B cells in autoimmune lupus

  Kevin Nickerson, PhD
  University of Pittsburgh
  

• Genetically engineering regulatory T cells to treat SLE

  Joshua Ooi, PhD
  School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University
  

• Examining the role of T cell exhaustion in lupus pathogenesis

  Jeremy Tilstra, MD, PhD
  University of Pittsburgh
  

• Epigenetic regulation of Il2 by ATF7ip – implications for SLE

  Michael Waterfield, MD, PhD
  University of California, San Francisco
  

2017 Funded Grants

• Immunotargeting of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells for SLE treatment

  Andre Ballesteros-Tato, PhD
  University of Alabama at Birmingham
  

• Unexpected role(s) for IRF5 risk variants in SLE pathogenesis

  Betsy Jo Barnes, PhD
  The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
  

• Neutrophil elastase as a therapeutic target in lupus

  Jason S. Knight, MD, PhD
  University of Michigan Medical School
  

• Characterization of chemokine producing effector B cells in SLE

  Frances E. Lund, PhD
  University of Alabama at Birmingham
  

• Targeting nicotinic receptors to reduce inflammation associated with SLE

  Keisa Williams Mathis, PhD
  University of Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth
  

• Targeting immunometabolism and co-stimulation in combination therapies in lupus

  Laurence Morel, PhD
  University of Florida College of Medicine
  

• Regulation of CD11c+Tbet+ B cells in lupus

  Alessandra B. Pernis, MD
  The Hospital for Special Surgery
  

• Mechanisms of the autoimmune germinal center response in SLE

  Ziaur Rahman, MD, PhD
  Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
  

• Targeting EZH2 in lupus

  Amr Sawalha, MD
  University of Pittsburgh
  

2016 Funded Grants

• Autophagy components and B cell activation during SLE

  Mridu Acharya, PhD
  Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason
  

• Anti-BDCA 2-targeted therapy for SLE

  Natalia Giltiay, PhD
  University of Washington
  

• B cell-intrinsic cytokine reg of spontaneous germinal ctr formation in SLE

  Shaun Jackson MD, PhD
  Seattle Children’s Hospital
  

• Multi-level biomarkers for psychiatric disorders in pediatric lupus

  Andrea Knight, MD, FRCPC
  The Hospital for Sick Children
  

• Targeting type II NKT cells for a novel therapeutic in lupus

  Vipin Kumar, PhD
  University of California, San Diego
  

• Impaired mitochondrial clearance in systemic lupus erythematosus

  Christian Lood, PhD
  University of Washington
  

• Mitochondria, caspases and type I interferons in autoimmunity

  Anthony Rongvaux, PhD
  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
  

• Cathepsin S inhibitor-modified Treg cells mitigate murine SLE

  Guo-Ping Shi, ScD
  Brigham and Women’s Hospital
  

• Oxidized mitochondrial DNA employs APEX1 in neutrophils to control lupus

  Zhiqiang Zhang, PhD
  The Methodist Hospital Research Institute
  

• A novel approach for treating lupus by inhibiting Fli1 transcription factor

  John Zhang, PhD
  Medical University of South Carolina
  

2015 Funded Grants

• Role of infection in obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome

  Vikki M. Abrahams, PhD
  Yale University
  

• Therapeutic selective targeting of BAFF receptors

  Julio A. Camarero, PhD
  USC/University of Southern California
  

• Pesticides and chemical exposures, DNA methylation, and SLE phenotypes

  Lindsey Ann Criswell, MD, MPH
  University of California, San Francisco
  

• Bacterial amyloids from biofilms break tolerance in lupus

  Stefania Gallucci, MD
  Temple University
  

• Understanding the pathway regulated by the lupus susceptibility gene Ets1

  Lee Ann Garrett-Sinha, PhD
  The Research Foundation for The SUNY University at Buffalo
  

• Repopulation of tolerogenic B cells post B cell depletion therapy in lupus

  Hui-Chen Hsu, PhD
  The University of Alabama at Birmingham
  

• IDO2, a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of lupus

  Laura Mandik-Nayak, PhD
  Lankenau Institute for Medical Research
  

• Tolerogenic dendritic cells in human lupus

  Timothy B. Niewold, MD
  New York University School of Medicine
  

• Sex disparity in lupus is driven by putative X-linked genes

  Robert Hal Scofield, MD
  Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
  

• Cross sectional and longitudinal studies of immune complexes in SLE

  Barbara J. Vilen, PhD
  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  

• A free website for discovering non-coding lupus-associated variant function

  Matthew T. Weirauch, PhD
  Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  

• PLK1, a potential novel therapeutic target for lupus

  Tianfu Wu, PhD
  University of Houston
  

2014 Funded Grants

• Therapeutic potential of sialylated IgG Fc in SLE

  Robert Anthony, PhD
  Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
  

• Iron and ER stress in lupus nephritis

  Erika Boesen, PhD
  Nebraska Medical Center
  

• Identification of lupus causal variants at 8p23.1 by mapping 3D genome

  Iouri Chepelev, PhD
  Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  

• Altered renal circadian rhythm in SLE nephritis

  Anne Davidson, MBBS
  Molecular Medicine, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research
  

• The role of the long non-coding RNA lincRNA-Eps in lupus

  Katherine Fitzgerald, PhD
  University of Massachusetts Medical School
  

• CD244 targeting therapeutics in SLE

  Edith Janssen, PhD
  Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  

• A role for diet-sensitive gut commensals in systemic autoimmunity

  Martin Kriegel, MD, PhD
  Yale School of Medicine
  

• CD19-targeted cytotoxic T cells for lupus therapy

  Marko Radic, PhD
  University of Tennessee, Memphis
  

• Tissue sodium in autoimmune disease

  Michael Stein, MBChB
  Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  

• The OX40L-OX40 axis in lupus pathogenesis

  Hideki Ueno, MD, PhD
  Mount Sinai School of Medicine
  

• Single cell detection of IFN signaling in lupus patients

  Mark Walter, PhD
  University of Alabama at Birmingham
  

2013 Funded Grants

• RIG-I regulation of interferon signature in SLE

  Ralph Budd, MD
  The University of Vermont Medical Center
  

• Mitochondrial autophagy in the control of systemic autoimmunity

  Min Chen, PhD
  Baylor College of Medicine
  

• Autoantibodies and prolactin participate in a positive feedback loop

  Betty Diamond, MD
  The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
  

• Cutaneous and systemic lupus induced by UVB

  Keith Elkon, MD
  University of Washington
  

• Innate immune cell mechanisms controlling inflammation in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

  Hans Haecker, MD PhD
  University of Utah, School of Medicine
  

• Mechanisms and consequences of HDL small RNA communication in SLE

  Amy Major, PhD
  Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  

• TWEAK/Fn14 pathway in the pathogenesis & treatment of neuropsychiatric SLE

  Chaim Putterman, MD
  Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  

• Function of SLE-related regulatory regions of human A20/TNFAIP3 gene

  Gong Shiaoching, PhD
  Weill Cornell Medical College
  

• Novel treatments for lupus nephritis

  Joshua Thurman, MD
  University of Colorado Denver, AMC and DC
  

• Bone marrow stem cell niche dysfunction in human SLE

  Lijun Yang, MD
  University of Florida
  

2012 Funded Grants

• Biological role of FCRL molecules in SLE pathogenesis

  Randall Davis, MD
  The University of Alabama at Birmingham
  

• Molecular basis and novel therapy of systemic lupus-associated thrombosis

  Bruce Furie, MD
  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
  

• Sex hormones, dendritic cells, and the IFN signature in lupus

  Stefania Gallucci, MD
  Temple University
  

• Hes1 as a novel regulator of the type I interferon pathway in SLE

  Xiaoyu Hu, MD, PhD
  The Hospital for Special Surgery
  

• Regulation of SLE through SOCS1 mimetic peptides

  Joe Larkin, PhD
  University of Florida
  

• Exploring the role of interferon kappa in SLE pathogenesis

  Deborah Lenschow, MD, PhD
  Washington University in St.Louis
  

• Linking ABIN-1 to SLE susceptibility

  Averil Ma, MD
  The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco
  

• Novel insights into cerebral lupus

  Chandra Mohan, MD, PhD
  University of Houston
  

• Dual reactive B cells in murine and human SLE

  Roberta Pelanda, PhD
  University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine
  

• Activation of iRhom2/ADAM17/HB-EGF/EGFR pathway in immune complex nephritis

  Jane Salmon, MD
  The Hospital for Special Surgery
  

• The microbiome and SLE

  Gregg Silverman, MD
  New York University School of Medicine
  

• Learning from viruses how to suppress type I interferons to cure lupus

  Elina Zuniga, PhD
  The Regents of the University of California, San Diego