Foundation Issues Request for Applications to Advance Research in Pediatric Lupus Nephritis
The Lupus Foundation of America announced today that the Foundation is seeking grant applications to provide critical funding that will, for the first time, address an unmet need in pediatric lupus nephritis. The new grant will provide research funds in the amount of $500,000 over five years to develop a novel panel of lupus nephritis biomarkers in children that will facilitate the development of a real-time, non-invasive diagnostic tool for pediatric lupus nephritis, allowing for more targeted treatment decisions and more personalized care. The grant is provided on behalf of the Foundation’s Michael Jon Barlin Pediatric Research Program, which was established in 2006 with the generous support of the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.
Lupus-related kidney inflammation, one of the most prominent and serious complications of lupus, is known as lupus nephritis. Up to 80 percent of children and adolescents with lupus will develop lupus nephritis which, if not adequately controlled, can lead to kidney failure, the need for chronic dialysis or kidney transplantation, and even death. Up to 40 percent of children with lupus nephritis develop end-stage renal disease -- permanent failure of the kidneys.
“Given the severity of the disease, lupus nephritis warrants close medical monitoring and there is a dire need to develop and validate tools that have the potential to monitor, stratify and predict outcomes for children and adolescents living with the disease and in whom lupus nephritis occurs quite frequently,” explains Graciela S. Alarcón, MD, MPH, Chair Medical-Scientific Advisory Council (MSAC) Research Committee, Lupus Foundation of America. “Traditional measures used to monitor lupus nephritis are unable to determine disease activity and progression or predict flares while the patient is in the doctor’s office, delaying crucial decisions that must be made. The Foundation’s pediatric lupus nephritis biomarker panel research could allow for better targeted treatment decisions and more personalized care, which ultimately would improve the quality of life of the thousands of children living with this disease.”
Lupus investigators who are interested in this grant opportunity may obtain more information and links to the online application at lupus.org/rfa. Binding letters of intent must be submitted online by May 30, 2014. Online applications must be submitted by June 30, 2014. The Foundation uses an electronic grant submission process and all interested grant applicants should submit their letters of intent and proposals via proposalCENTRAL at proposalcentral.altum.com.
About the Lupus Foundation of America Peer Reviewed Research Program
The Lupus Foundation of America is dedicated to addressing scientific issues that have obstructed basic, clinical, epidemiological, behavioral and translational lupus research for decades. Our research grant program focuses 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. The program supports growth in the field during a time when federal government funding opportunities are limited. Through our peer reviewed lupus research program, the Foundation directly funds lupus investigators to conduct studies in areas identified by our Medical-Scientific Advisory Council (MSAC).
The Foundation is the only national organization to launch the first-ever pediatric lupus research program through its Michael Jon Barlin Pediatric Research Program, which was established in 2006 with the generous support of the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. Over the years, the research funded through this program has allowed for significant headway in helping to advance the science and understanding of pediatric lupus.