In 2002, the LRI awarded 11 additional Novel Research Grants to investigators across the country to tackle different aspects of lupus in completely new and innovative ways. LRI also launched its Clinical Trials Initiatives, which encourages scientists to develop novel clinical trial methodologies that accelerate the testing of promising new agents in lupus patients -- and make new treatments available more rapidly.

Click on the link to learn more about the rationale behind each project, the research plan, and what the findings will mean for the estimated 1-1.5 million Americans who suffer from lupus.

Novel Research Grant Recipients:


• Susan A. Boackle, MD, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO
  Role of Complement Receptor 2 in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
• Robert A. Eisenberg, MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
  Accelerated Atherosclerosis in Murine Lupus
• Neil S. Greenspan, MD, PhD, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
  Pathogenic Role of IgG3 Antibodies in MRL/lpr Nephritis
• Mariana J. Kaplan, MD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
  Endothelial Cell Death in Females with S.L.E.; Mechanisms and Associations with Premature Vascular Disease
• Peter Mundel, MD, Albert Einstein College Of Medicine, Bronx, NY
  Functional Analysis of B7-1 on Podocytes in S.L.E.
• Stanford Peng, MD, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
  Pathogenic Transcription Factors in Lupus
• Ian R. Rifkin, MD, PhD, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
  Role of Toll-like Receptors in Dendritic Cell Activation by Chromatin-containing Complexes
• Michael C. Schneider, MD, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL
  Study of Macrophage DNASE1-like 3 (D3) Deficiency and its Treatment in S.L.E. Mice
• Reshma Taneja, PhD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
  Molecular Basis of Lymphocyte Activation
• Jianming Wu, PhD, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
  Epigenetics: Fas mRNA Editing in S.L.E.
• Jianhua Zhang, PhD, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
  Defective DNA Degradation and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus


Clinical Trials Initiatives Grant Recipients:

• Hanno B. Richards, MD, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
  Prognostic Indicators in Lupus Nephritis
• Joan Von Feldt, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
  The Role of EBCT in Identification of Premature Atherosclerosis in S.L.E. Patients: Association of Coronary Calcification with Traditional and Novel Cardiovascular Risk Factors