Our Childhood Lupus Research Program
The Michael Jon Barlin Pediatric Lupus Research Program
We take a strategic approach to investigating lupus in children by calling on some of the greatest minds in the field to address the most urgent challenges in this area of medicine.
In 2006, we established the Michael Jon Barlin Pediatric Lupus Research Program with the generous support of the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. The program is founded in memory of Michael Jon Barlin, who passed away at the age of 24 following a long battle with lupus.
This program supports discoveries in childhood lupus research for:
- Lupus kidney disease
- Neurological or psychological conditions that develop in people with lupus (referred to as neuropsychiatric lupus)
- Health-related quality of life
- Development of drugs to specifically for children with lupus
In 2010, the program was expanded to include the Lucy Vodden Research Grant Award established by LFA and a generous gift from Julian Lennon.
International studies indicate that children with childhood lupus have more pervasive and life-threatening organ involvement than adults.
We attack that problems that have stood in the way of progress and which hold the greatest promise for accelerating our understanding of how lupus affects children and adolescents.
