The LFA Research Program

2010 Grant Awards

The Lupus Foundation of America has issued RFA's for its 2010 National Research Program grant awards. The deadline to submit letters of intent has expired. LFA only accepts grant applications from investigators whose letters of intent have been approved. Applications will be accepted until June 18, 2010:

Neuropsychiatric Lupus (download PDF application guidelines for RFA 010-02 NP)
Reproductive Issues in Lupus (download PDF application guidelines for RFA 010-03 R)
Pediatric Lupus (download PDF application guidelines for RFA 010-04 P)
Lupus Nephritis (download PDF application guidelines for RFA 010-05 LN) (Revised May 10, 2010)

Online Application

Applicants are encouraged to register and complete a professional profile at proposalCENTRAL as soon as possible. Applicants should ensure that their grants and contracts office has registered their institutional, financial, and signing officials with proposalCENTRAL.

LFA uses an electronic grants submission process. All interested grant applicants must submit their full application packages through proposalCENTRAL at the following webpage: https://proposalcentral.altum.com/. A proposalCENTRAL helpline is available for questions from applicants, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., EST. Customer support is available via phone at 1-800-875-2562 or by email at pcsupport@altum.com.

Bringing Down the Barriers

Purpose

LFA’s National Research Program, Bringing Down the Barriers, is dedicated to bringing down the barriers that have obstructed basic, clinical, epidemiological, behavioral, and translational lupus research for decades.

LFA’s prestigious peer-reviewed grant program follows the high standards set by the National Institutes of Health and is guided by LFA’s Medical-Scientific Advisory Council.

Since its inception, LFA and its affiliate chapters have provided nearly $23 million to support more than 400 grants to research scientists at nearly 100 leading academic and medical institutions throughout the nation. LFA is proud and honored to have provided seed grants to many of the world’s leading lupus researchers. These grants have not only led to tens of millions of dollars in additional research funding, but have also significantly facilitated many of the lupus-related scientific breakthroughs of the last 30 years.

For more than 20 years, LFA-funded Investigators have published in such prestigious peer-reviewed journals as Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Immunity, and Genes and Immunity.

History

Bringing Down the Barriers has focused its support in areas of research where significant gaps in scientific knowledge about lupus exist, and where other public and private organizations are not focusing their efforts.

LFA’s Michael Jon Barlin Pediatric Research Program, the only one of its kind in the nation, has a dedicated focus to pediatric lupus research. This program is dedicated to research that will facilitate the care of children with lupus and the special attention required for their successful transitions to adolescence and adulthood.

Past and present areas of research focus include: cardiovascular, skin, kidney, and neuropsychiatric disease manifestations of lupus, the genetics of pediatric, adolescent, and male lupus, fatigue, mid-to-late stage translational research, adult stem cell transplantation, animal models of lupus, identification and validation of biomarkers, patient-reported outcomes, and improved early recognition and diagnosis of lupus.

Leveraging Donor Support

The LFA’s research program is funded by individuals and institutions, which include corporations and (family and health-related) foundations, and the LFA’s nationwide network of chapters, branches and support groups who support the national research program. Additionally, the LFA has invested individuals’ donations to help support efforts to stimulate congressional funding for the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies engaged in medical research and education programs for lupus. The results of these efforts have paid off. For every $1 donated by individuals to the LFA, an additional $10 was secured in federal funding specific to lupus research and education.

Learn about how you can sponsor a lupus project here.

Advancing the Science and Medicine of Lupus

The LFA is committed to accelerating the pace of medical discovery with the clear goal of making clinical research more feasible. The LFA has been aggressively pursuing strategies to greatly increase federal, state, and industry support for a robust medical research effort on lupus, and will continue to lead the way in facilitating extensive collaborations between the United States Congress, the National Institutes of Health, and our nation's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

LFA Special Research Initiatives

In addition to providing direct support to lupus investigators, the LFA also supports lupus research through its own special initiatives. These projects tackle significant scientific issues that hold promise to greatly advance the science and medicine of lupus, often addressing barriers that in the past have not received adequate attention or funding.

Addressing Barriers to Lupus Drug Development

The LFA commissioned a nine-month study by the nationally recognized health policy research organization, The Lewin Group, to address barriers to lupus drug development. Their report, entitled "Overcoming Barriers to Drug Development in Lupus," both outlines obstacles to lupus drug development and provides recommendations for overcoming them.

The LFA immediately began implementing the recommendations by launching the first-ever Collective Data Analysis Initiative (CDAI). The CDAI project utilizes the efforts of approximately 15 academic and industry lupus experts nationwide to optimize clinical trial design and implementation by analyzing data from previous and existing lupus clinical trials. The CDAI project will yield useful information that will help us to learn about the impacts that background therapies may have had on lupus clinical trial outcomes and use that knowledge to improve the design of future trials of potential new therapies for lupus.

Developing an International Consensus to Define Lupus Flares

Lupus clinical trials have utilized varying definitions of lupus flares, none of which is unequivocally or consistently accepted. This has made the design and interpretation of lupus clinical trials difficult and drug development has thus been hampered.

To address this problem, LFA worked in collaboration with the Pediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organization (PRINTO) in Genova, Italy over a three-year period to convene multiple conferences, which were attended by approximately 130 lupus experts from around the world and from which a consensus-derived definition of lupus flare was derived.

Once validated, the LFA-FLARE is likely to be used mainly as a primary or secondary outcome for clinical trials, to assist in establishing entry criteria for certain clinical trial designs, and may be useful for managing lupus.

Planning a Comprehensive National Lupus Epidemiological Study

The LFA convened a group of leading lupus experts to plan a comprehensive epidemiological study of patients with lupus and related syndromes in the U.S. The LFA has successfully advocated for $16.6 million in federal funding for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish several population-based lupus registries which will identity researchers to determine the number of people with lupus within specific geographic areas. When completed in 2013, the study will enable researchers to determine the true incidence and prevalence of various forms of lupus among different populations. A national-scale epidemiological study is essential for planning and conducting clinical trials for new lupus therapies, other research efforts, patient services, and education programs.

2009 LFA National Research Program Grant Awards

The LFA awarded 2009 research grants to address issues of critical importance for people with lupus, including the management of the disease in children and teens, improving health outcomes, the underlying genetic causes of male lupus, facilitating greater accuracy in the diagnosis of lupus, and the development of new, safe, and effective treatments. In addition, the LFA awarded five student fellowships to foster an interest in lupus research, and renewed funding for the Lupus Biomarkers Clinical Consortium, a collaborative initiative that seeks to identify biomarkers that hold promise to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of lupus.

More than ever before, the research studies funded this year through LFA’s National Research Program hold the potential to have an immediate and direct impact on patients and their quality of life. For example, the LFA is funding the development of a tool that seeks to ultimately improve the self-management skills of children with lupus, which will aid in their transition to adults, and lead to overall better management of the disease.

Diagnostic Criteria

Michelle Petri, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor of Medicine
Co-Director, Hopkins Lupus Pregnancy Center
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
"AROSE Study-revision and validation of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) diagnostic criteria for lupus"
This award is provided through a trust created in memory of Stephen and Catherine Pida and with funds contributed by the LFA, Greater Washington Chapter.

Health Outcomes Measures

Meenakshi Jolly, M.D., M.S.
Director, Rush Lupus Clinic
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Rush University Medical Center
“Cross Cultural Spanish Validation of LupusPRO: A Patient Reported Outcome Measure for Lupus”
This award is presented in memory of Kassie McMullin Biglow and with funds contributed by the LFA, Illinois Chapter, Central Illinois Branch.

Mid-to-Late Stage Translational Research

Jean M. van Seventer, V.M.D.
Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences
Boston University School of Public Health
“Modeling the Effects of Type 1 IFN Blockade Therapy During Various Stages of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus”
This award is made possible through support of the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, in memory of Michael Jon Barlin.

Male Lupus Research

Bruce Richardson, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
University of Michigan
Genetic/Epigenetic Modeling of Male Lupus Risk
This award is made possible through support of the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, in memory of Michael Jon Barlin.

Michael Jon Barlin Pediatric Lupus Research Program

Emily Von Scheven, M.D., M.A.S.
Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
University of California, San Francisco
“Improving Transition Readiness and QOL with a Pediatric Health Passport”

Deborah McCurdy, M.D.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
University of California, Los Angeles
“Pathways of autoimmunity linking polymorphisms in genes regulating the INF-α pathway, INF-α induced gene expression, and regulatory T-cell expression of FoxP3 in pediatric/adolescent systemic lupus erythematosus”
This award is made possible through support of the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, in memory of Michael Jon Barlin.

Lupus Biomarkers Clinical Consortium

The LFA continues to provide efforts to help identify promising biomarkers that may facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of lupus. This year, the LFA is funding seven sites for the Lupus Biomarkers Clinical Consortium. The awardees are as follows:

Michelle Petri, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor of Medicine
Co-Director, Hopkins Lupus Pregnancy Center
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Ellen Ginzler, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor of Medicine
Chief of Rheumatology
SUNY Downstate Medical Center

Diane Kamen, M.D., M.S.C.R.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Medical University of South Carolina

Kenaz Thomas, M.S., M.B.A.
Associate Research Assistant
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, M.D., Dr.PH.
Professor of Medicine
Northwestern University

S. Sam Lim, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Chief of Rheumatology
Emory University

Jill Buyon, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Associate Director of Division of Rheumatology
New York University Medical Center

Read about the Gina Finzi Memorial Student Summer Fellowship Program