Bringing Down the Barriers

[Guest guest]

Lupus Foundation of America Announces

New Five-Year Research Support Initiative

“Bringing Down the Barriers”

(Washington, DC - February 25) The Lupus Foundation of

America (LFA) has launched a new initiative aimed at bringing down the barriers

that have obstructed progress on research into lupus, an autoimmune disease

that affects the lives of an estimated 1.5 million Americans. The

Five-Year Research Support Program seeks to advance biomedical, clinical,

epidemiological, behavioral and translational research that will lead to safe

and more effective treatments for lupus and a cure for the disease.

“Without

the ability to conduct meaningful clinical trials, the pharmaceutical industry

and the federal government have not been fully engaged in searching for the

causes and cure for lupus,” said C. , President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lupus

Foundation of America, the nations leading nonprofit voluntary health agency

dedicated solely to lupus. “The fact that there have been no new

drug therapies for lupus in thirty years underscores the need to address and

answer the questions that have impeded the forward progress of clinical trials

and the development of new medications to treat lupus.”

Approved

recently by the LFA's Board of Directors, the

Five-Year Research Support Program will help to accelerate the pace of medical

discovery in lupus with a goal of making clinical trials more feasible.

“Our goal is to encourage pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to

make substantive investments to find the cause and cure for lupus, said Joan

Merrill, M.D., LFA's Medical Director.

“We need to address the gaps in understanding of the incidence and

prevalence of lupus to heighten public and private sector interest and investment

in lupus, and stimulate new approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of the

disease.”

The LFA will

immediately issue two Requests for Applications (RFA's)

focusing on the epidemiology of lupus. For more information, please visit

the following page on the LFA website: www.lupus.org/research/five-year.html.

The new

five-year initiative will complement LFA's on-going

efforts to stimulate greater public and private support of research on lupus.

“The LFA will continue and expand its year-round federal and grassroots

advocacy efforts to support increases in congressional appropriations for

research on lupus, and to influence a robust national lupus research

agenda,” said , Chair of the LFA's

Board of Directors. “In addition, we will continue to support young

scientists through our fellowship program and fulfill the commitments that we

already have made to support young investigators.” Since its

inception, the LFA has awarded 350 Young Investigator research grants to

researchers at 81 academic institutions throughout the United States. Many of these researchers have gone on to

receive millions of dollars through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“The LFA

will facilitate extensive collaborations between the Congress, the NIH, and our

nations leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to achieve the level

of focus for lupus research that is required to bring about a good qualify of

life for individuals with lupus,” said .

Lupus is a

chronic disease that for unknown reasons causes the immune system to mistakenly

attack the body's own healthy cells. The disease strikes mostly women in

their childbearing years, with the highest prevalence among women of color,

especially African Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Hispanics and

Asians. The disease causes a host of debilitating symptoms and can

eventually lead to tissue damage, organ failure or death.

The Lupus

Foundation of America was founded in 1977 and operates a nationwide network of

200 local chapters, branches and support groups. The LFA mission is to

improve the diagnosis and treatment of lupus, support individuals and families

affected by the disease, increase awareness of lupus among health professionals

and the public, and find the cause and cure. For more information about

lupus and the LFA, visit the LFA website at www.lupus.org.