Lupus Research Update

July 26, 2018 By uncovering how some killer viruses beat our immune system, scientists partly funded by the Lupus Research Alliance have identified a potential new way to treat lupus. The viruses that cause Lassa fever and other similar diseases kill thousands of people every year. One reason these viruses are deadly is that they […] READ MORE

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 shepherding new discoveries […] READ MORE

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

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

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

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

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

April 5, 2018 Congratulations go to Dr. Zhijian ‘James’ Chen — just named the 2018 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences recipient by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. The highly prestigious award recognizes Dr. Chen’s exceptional work that the Lupus Research Alliance proudly helped fund. His discovery of an enzyme cGAS uncovered an […] READ MORE

        Bacteria Could be to Blame for Autoimmune Attacks March 12, 2018 Innovative novel research, co-funded by the Lupus Research Alliance, has produced a significant discovery about the role of bacteria and points to the potential for a vaccine or treatment that might prevent an autoimmune attack by suppressing specific bacteria. Led […] READ MORE

Lupus Research Turns Immune System Enemies into Friends Jan. 17, 2018.  With support from a Lupus Research Alliance Novel Research Grant, Robert Anthony, PhD, made a groundbreaking discovery that could lead to a new, effective treatment of lupus and other autoimmune diseases. At Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Anthony successfully turned autoimmune […] READ MORE

2017 Lupus Insight Prize Winner Shares Her Insights About Childhood Lupus Dec. 20, 2017.  In piecing together the many complex and varied parts of the lupus puzzle, Virginia Pascual, MD — this year’s winner of the Lupus Insight Prize — looks to her own patients for answers. As a clinician and a scientist, Dr. Pascual’s […] READ MORE

Sept. 7, 2017.  The study of T cells and B cells, their function, and the interaction between them that causes runaway inflammation and the progression of disease have been the subjects of numerous groundbreaking lupus investigations over the past decade. Today, Rong Fan, PhD, from Yale University, is building on these discoveries by using his […] READ MORE