Extraordinary Progress Reported by Grant Recipients at October Scientific Conference

"We're counting on you," said LRI Co-Chairman Robert J. Ravitz to the more than 50 researchers and physicians gathered at the Yale Club in Manhattan for the LRI annual conference, Forum for Discovery. The following two days of scientific discussions, poster sessions, and impromptu exchange of findings and ideas indicated that Mr. Ravitz had good reason to place pressure on–and feel upbeat about–the advances that LRI scientists are rapidly making in decoding the enigma that is lupus.

After LRI Novel Research Co-Chair Mark Shlomchik, MD, PhD, laid out the agenda for the meeting (thematic scientific sessions interspersed with poster sessions), and addressed the state of lupus research in general, he introduced the first special speaker, Michel Nussenzweig, MD, PhD, the Sherman Fairchild Professor and Senior Physician at Rockefeller University. Dr Nussenzweig delved into recent findings on immune system function and related them to discoveries on errors in specificity, diversity, and memory that appear to occur with autoimmune diseases such as lupus.

Scientific Sessions Show LRI Science Out Ahead of the Curve

Variously moderated by LRI Novel Research Co-Chairs Dr. Shlomchik and Nicholas Chiorazzi, MD, as well as scientists V. Michael Holers, MD, Anne Davidson, MD, and Mary Crow, MD, the 23 presentations at 5 sessions gave LRI scientists an opportunity to report on findings in basic science and lupus-related fields such as biomarkers, genetics, and clinical manifestations such as nephritis and atherosclerosis.

High Tech Gene Screens May Speed Lupus Diagnosis and Treatment (PDF) »

Evening Event Showcases Year 2005 LRI Grant Recipients and Special Speaker

The newest round of LRI grant recipients–15 in all–were introduced after a reception and shortly before presentation of the 2005 Jane Luke Murphy Memorial Grant to University of Chicago researcher, Marcus Clark, MD, and a dinner address in which Brian Kotzin, MD, made a case for industry as the key player in spurring new lupus therapeutics.

For more on the new round of grant recipients, click here.