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New Round of Lupus Research Institute Awards Brings Promise of More Breakthroughs

Tuesday, October 23, 2007 General News
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NEW YORK, Oct. 22 The Lupus Research Institute (LRI) hasannounced the selection of its 6th round of Novel Research Grants-crucialfunds to scientists across the nation primed to explore entirely new ideas onwhy the lupus immune system so tragically attacks the body it should beprotecting. The LRI is the only national nonprofit organization singularlydevoted to pioneering innovative lupus research.
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The outlay of $300,000 to each scientist in this latest round of grantsbrings the LRI's total investment in novel lupus research to $22 million for85 grants since the Institute was founded in 2000 - the largest number and thewidest range of privately funded lupus research nationwide. Studies span 51academic medical centers across 20 states. The 2007 investigators are workingat academic institutions from Connecticut to California, New York, Virginia,Washington, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.
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"This strategy of focusing funding only novel scientific ideas in lupushas more than demonstrated its power," said William E. Paul, MD, chief of theLaboratory of Immunology at the National Institute of Allergy and InfectiousDisease-National Institutes of Health, and chairman of the LRI's ScientificAdvisory Board. "Through its annual support, the LRI strengthens the lupusresearch landscape and moves novel concepts forward to secure large-scalefederal funding."

And if previous results are any guide, these unexplored ideas holdenormous promise for breakthroughs and extended funding from the NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH) and other sources. LRI-funded scientists haveturned the Institute's $9 million investment from 2001 to 2004 into a record$30 million in new grant funding from the NIH and other sources.

This year's recipients of the highly competitive grants, which proposeinvestigations that range from fundamental exploration of the immune system toclinical studies in humans, were selected by the Institute's distinguishedPeer Review Committee because of their unique and potentially groundbreakingnature. The committee seeks the best new science and the widest possiblescope of ideas. While high-risk in many cases, the studies are also ripe withpromise for cracking the mysteries of a disorder that devastates more than 1.5million Americans, and millions more worldwide. No new treatment for lupushas been approved in nearly 50 years, and current therapies can be toxic.

The LRI encourages grant applications from such diverse disciplines asgenetics, immunology, cardiology, and neurology, and from both experiencedscientists and new investigators. Some recipients may never have worked inlupus, but their hypotheses have the potential to shed light on the mysteriesof this disabling disease. Several of the 2007 grant recipients, for example,are investigating potential lupus biomarkers ("early markers" or "predictors"of disease and treatments) that might help diagnose, monitor, and treat lupusmore successfully than current tests do. Altogether, the LRI has madepossible the investigation of more than 20 potential biomarkers, 6 of whichare already being tested in people.

"These 2007 research grants are of exceptional interest and quality, andwill likely lead to important advances in lupus," said David S. Pisetsky, MD,PhD, co-chair of the LRI Peer Review Task Force and chief of the Division ofRheumatology and Immunology at Duke University Medical Center. "By buildingon recent findings in basic research, especially in immunology, on themechanisms underlying the origin and development of lupus, they may well leadto improved care and treatment for people with this difficult illness."

Top lupus scientists from government and academia on the Institute's PeerReview Task Force rigorously evaluate the submissions. Dr. Pisetsky co-chaired the 2007 Task Force with Mark Shlomchik, MD, PhD, professor ofLaboratory Medicine and Immunology at Yal
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