Lupus Foundation of America Awards More than $1.1 Million in New Research Grants

LFA Committed to Bringing Down the Barriers to Finding New
Treatments for People with Lupus
WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) has awarded more than $1.1
million in new research grants and fellowships as part of its ongoing
commitment to bringing down the barriers in developing new treatments
and finding a cure for lupus. Lupus is a disabling and
life-threatening autoimmune disease that affects approximately 1.5
million Americans -- that's enough people to fill 30 baseball
stadiums.

This year's LFA research grants will support innovative research
initiatives in pediatric/adolescent lupus, lupus in males, and
mid-to-late stage translational research. Funds for these initiatives
were generously granted to the LFA through the Wallace H. Coulter
Foundation in memory of Michael Jon Barlin, who in 2006, at the age of
24, passed away after a long battle with lupus. Additionally, two
grant awards will support studies on the use of adult stem cells in
lupus. Funds for these awards were provided by the Cooper Family
Foundation.

Other areas of research supported by the LFA National Research
Program include cutaneous (skin) lupus, kidney disease and lupus, and
the cognitive effects of lupus. The LFA also awarded five student
summer fellowships to foster an interest in the field of lupus
research.

There has not been a new treatment approved for lupus in almost 50
years. Medical and scientific breakthroughs in research lead to new
treatments, and without research people with lupus will continue to
wait. The LFA received more than 77 grant applications, totaling an
estimated $7.8 million in requests for lupus research funding. In
2008, the LFA National Research Program has awarded funding to 13
institutions and 19 researchers in its continuing effort to overcome
the challenges that have hindered lupus research in the past.

At least five million people worldwide have a form of lupus, a
disease which causes the immune system to go awry and attack the
body's own tissue and organs, resulting in debilitating and sometimes
fatal consequences that include heart attacks, strokes, seizures, and
kidney failure.

Since its inception, the LFA and its affiliated chapters have
provided $21 million to fund more than 400 grants to research
scientists at nearly 100 leading academic and medical institutions
throughout the nation. LFA seed grants have led to tens of millions of
dollars from other institutions, including the federal government, to
allow these researchers to continue their work. In addition to direct
support made possible through donations from individuals,
corporations, foundations, and a nationwide network of LFA chapters
and support groups, the LFA advocates to greatly expand funds for
lupus research through grants from state and federal governments, and
through private investment from biotechnology and pharmaceutical
companies. Additional information about the LFA National Research
Program is available from the LFA Website at www.lupus.org.

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2009 LFA National Research Program Awards

Novel Pilot Projects in Lupus Research (Dermatology, Nephrology,
General)
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Ansar Ahmed, Ph.D., D.V.M.
Professor & Head, Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Are microRNA, Novel Regulators in Immunity, Involved in Autoimmune
Lupus?
This grant award is presented in memory of Kassie McMullin Biglow

Amy Kao, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh
Lupus Center for Excellence, Pittsburgh, PA
C4d on Circulating Cells and Renal Tissues as Markers of Lupus
Nephritis
Funding provided by the Louis Berkowitz Family Foundation

Westley Reeves, M.D.
Professor & Division Chief, Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology
University of Florida, Gainesville
Generation of Regulatory T Cells in Lupus Using Mesenchymal Stem Cells
This grant award is provided by funds contributed through a trust
created in memory of Stephen and Catherine Pida.

Ram Raj Singh, M.D.
Professor of Medicine & Pathology
University of California, Los Angeles
Mechanisms of Organ Damage in Males with Lupus Nephritis

Victoria Werth, M.D.
Chief of Dermatology
University of Pennsylvania
Immunologic Actions of Glycosaminoglycans in Cutaneous Lupus

Neuropsychiatric Lupus (NPSLE) Research
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Michael Luggen, M.D.
Professor of Clinical Medicine
University of Cincinnati Medical Center, OH
Cognitive Dysfunction in SLE: Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Significance

Cynthia Aranow, M.D.
Associate Investigator
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, NY
PET Scan Imaging of Cognitive and Emotional Abnormalities in SLE

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

Michael Jon Barlin Pediatric Lupus Research Program
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The following awards were made possible through support of the Wallace
H. Coulter Foundation, in memory of Michael Jon Barlin:

Joseph Ahearn, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh
Co-Director
Lupus Center for Excellence, Pittsburgh, PA
Biomarkers for Diagnosis, Monitoring and Prognosis in Pediatric SLE

Deborah McCurdy, M.D.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
University of California, Los Angeles
Association Between Polymorphisms in Genes Regulating the IFN-I
Pathway, IFN-I Induced Gene Expression and FOXP3 Expression in
Pediatric/Adolescent SLE

Adult Stem Cell Research
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The following grant awards were made possible through support of the
Cooper Family Foundation:

Richard Burt, MD
Chief, Division of Immunotherapy
Northwestern University, Chicago
Unusual Regulatory T Cells in Patients with Severe Lupus Following
HSCT

Igor Slukvin, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cell-Based Therapy for SLE

Gina M. Finzi Memorial Student Summer Fellowships
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LaToia Bryant
University of Pittsburgh, PA
Complement C4d on Platelets and Platelet-Derived Microparticles in SLE

Chao Jiang
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
The Role of BCMA for PC Survival in Murine SLE

Erinn Kellner
University of Florida, Gainesville
Depression and Fatigue in SLE: The Role of Type-I Interferons

Jennifer Woo
University of California, Los Angeles
Aortic Lesion Composition in an Accelerated Atherosclerosis Lupus
Model

John Connolly
University of California, Los Angeles
Efficacy of Orally Administered p-Consensus Peptide in SLE Mouse
Models
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About the LFA

The Lupus Foundation of America is the nation's leading nonprofit,
voluntary health organization with a dual mission: to provide support,
help, and hope to all people affected by lupus, and to find the causes
of and cure for lupus through increased public and private sector
research funding.

About the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation

Wallace Henry Coulter was an engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, and
visionary. He was co-founder and Chairman of Coulter(R) Corporation, a
worldwide medical diagnostics company, and through his discovery of
the Coulter(R) Principle, is responsible for the current practice of
hematology laboratory medicine.

Named for Coulter, the Foundation is dedicated to the advancement
of translational research in biomedical engineering with the goal of
accelerating the introduction of new technologies into patient care.
The Foundation received its first funding in 1999 and since then has
worked with colleges, universities, and professional associations that
Wallace Coulter was associated with during his lifetime. His values of
endless curiosity, continuous learning, teamwork, consideration, and
respect for the individual, coupled with the highest level of ethics
and integrity, are the cornerstone values of the Wallace H. Coulter
Foundation.

Lupus Foundation of America
Duane Peters, 202-349-1145
peters@lupus.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008