Every three years, the world's leading lupus clinicians and researchers gather for the International Congress on Lupus and Related Conditions. The purpose of the meeting is to present data from studies on lupus, share information, develop collaborations and plan the future direction of lupus research. The Lupus Foundation of America officials are proud to play a significant role in helping to organize, support and conduct the Congress as part of the LFA's ongoing efforts to expand research into the causes of lupus and to improve the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

During the Congress, several investigators participated in interviews with the LFA communications team to highlight the results of their studies and to share their insight into the current status and future direction of research on lupus. We are pleased to share these interviews with you and hope you find them to be helpful and enlightening. This truly is a very exciting time in lupus research and the LFA is pleased to have played a role in helping to advance the science and medicine of lupus. For additional information about the LFA National Research Program: Bringing Down The Barriers, please review the Research Section of the LFA website.

Gary Gilkeson, MD
Professor of Medicine, Vice Chairman Department of Medicine for Research
Medical University of South Carolina

Highlights from the Ninth International Congress on Lupus "What's New - What's Ahead"

Lindsey Criswell, MD, MPH, DSc
Professor of Medicine & Oral Facial Sciences
University of California, San Francisco Medical Center
Lessons from Studies on Lupus Genetics

 

David Isenberg, MD, FRCP
Academic Director of Rheumatology
University College London
New Therapeutic Targets for Lupus

 

John Harley, MD, PhD
Director of Rheumatology
The Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology
Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Genes That Make Lupus Possible

David Wofsy, MD
Professor of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco Medical Center
Results from the Aspreva Lupus Management Study

 

Ram Raj Singh, MD
Director, Basic and Translational Research
University of California, Los Angeles
David Geffen School of Medicine
A Novel Cause of Cutaneous Lupus

 

Kenneth Kalunian, MD
Associate Director of the Center for Innovative Therapy
University of California, San Diego
Results of Phase IIb Study of Epratuzumab in Patients with Moderate to Severe Lupus

 

Meenakshi Jolly, MD
Director, Lupus Clinic
Rush University Medical Center
Studies Regarding Health Related Quality of Life for People with Lupus

 

Denise D'Andrea, MD, FACP
Senior Director, Clinial Research
Cephalon, Inc.
Lupuzor™ Being Studied for Treatment of Systemic Lupus

 

L. Nandini Moorthy, MD, MS, FAAP
Chief of Pediatric Rheumatology
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Health Related Quality of Life Measures Among Children with Lupus

 

Michael Ward, MD
Investigator, Intramural Research Program
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Biomarkers for Lupus Diagnosis and Disease Activity

 

Emily von Scheven, MD
Director of Pediatric Rheumatology
University of California, San Francisco Medical Center
Bone Health in Children with Lupus