Research

A robust medical research effort is essential to find the causes of lupus, develop more effective treatments, and eventually cure the disease.

Research

Recent Lupus Foundation Research Efforts

  • Expanded the Five-Year Research Program by adding another $1 million in direct support to lupus researchers, including: seven new Novel Pilot Projects, two studies on heart and blood vessel disease in women and African Americans with lupus, and nine research sites to study and validate lupus biomarkers.

  • Supported six young investigators through the Gina Finzi Memorial Student Summer Fellowship Program.

  • Stimulated additional Congressional appropriations to provide new funding for lupus research, including an additional $2 million for studies on lupus and lupus biomarkers through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and another $1 million for data collection to determine the prevalence and incidence of lupus through the National Lupus Patient Registry of the U.S. Department of Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

  • Convened a group of leading clinical researchers as the first step to building a consensus for a definition of lupus flares.

  • Collaborated with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to educate people with lupus about clinical trials designed to test potential new lupus medications.

  • Nationally, our advocacy efforts have led to increased lupus research funding to $6.5 million.

Lupus Foundation of America Provides $2 Million to Support Lupus Research


The Lupus Foundation of America’s direct funding of research has grown 100 percent in the past 3 years with $2 million awarded in 2006-08 to 23 investigators at 22 institutions including translational research and bio marker research. 
 
To date, the LFA and its chapters have provided more than $16 million to support an ongoing committment to lupus research including studies on lupus biomarker validation, expansion and revision of the diagnostic criteria for lupus, heart and blood vessel disease in women and African Americans with lupus. Find out more about the Lupus Foundation of America's research efforts on 
lupus.org.

Lupus Now® Research Updates

An enewsletter of the Lupus Foundation of America, provides reviews of recently published papers from significant medical journals translated into understandable language, information about advances in lupus research and clinical studies, and other relevant news for individuals with an interest in lupus.  View past issues and sign up to receive future issues.