12 Sep 2012
2009-2010 Finding the Genes that Cause Lupus Courtney Gray-McGuire, Ph.D. Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Oklahoma City, OK Genes for early systemic lupus erythematosus autoimmunity in African Americans Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) is a complex disease with a variety of clinical manifestations, many of which can be debilitating...
12 Sep 2012
2009-2010 T Cells: A Novel Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis Richard Di Paolo, Ph.D. St. Louis University St. Louis, MO Don H. Minassian Memorial Fellow Adoptively Transferring GPI-specific Regulatory T cells to treat the Effector Phase of Rheumatoid Arthritis The immune system generates a population of cells known as regulatory T...
12 Sep 2012
2009-2010 Understanding Inflammatory Progression in RA Mei Chen, M.D., Ph.D. Brigham and Women’s Hospital Boston, MA Frances D. Morongo Memorial Fellow The mechanisms of LTB4-induced migration and invasion in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disease that primarily targets synovial tissues, which forms the joint...
12 Sep 2012
2009-2010 Testing a New Therapy Candace Cham, Ph.D. Stanford University Stanford, CA Jack and Vonnie Schlomer Memorial Fellow New humanized mouse model of chronic rheumatoid arthritis in humans In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the immune system attacks and damages the individual’s own joints. RA is characterized by episodes of acute...
12 Sep 2012
2011-2012 Hyaluronan Function in OA Yingcui Li, Ph.D.University of Connecticut Health CenterFarminton, Connecticut Genetic Analysis of Hyaluronan Function in Osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, causes pain, disability and decreased quality of life for over 20 million people in the United States alone. Osteoarthritis...
12 Sep 2012
2011-2012 IL-23 May Be Key to New RA Therapy Iannis Adamopoulos, D.Phil.University of California, DavisDavis, California Dissecting the IL-23/IL-17A axis in inflammatory arthritis Dr. Adamopoulos has been named the 2011 Sontag Foundation Fellow of the Arthritis National Research Foundation, an annual award for innovative and cutting-edge rheumatoid...
12 Sep 2012
2011-2012 Targeting Neutrophils in Inflammatory Arthritis Peter Nigrovic, M.D.Children’s Hospital BostonBoston, Massachusetts A novel modulator of neutrophil function in inflammatory arthritis Neutrophils are immune cells that migrate into joints during inflammatory arthritis. Studies in mice confirm that neutrophils are absolutely necessary for the normal evolution of...
12 Sep 2012
2011-2012 Too Much IL-23 may Predispose to Ankylosing Spondylitis Judith Smith, M.D., Ph.DUniversity of WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin Excess IL-23 production and underlying biochemical mechanisms in ankylosing spondylitis Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a progressive arthritis involving the spine that causes significant disability and decreased quality of life. Current therapy...
12 Sep 2012
2011-2012 RA & Lupus Patients Have Dysfunctional “Good” Cholesterol Brian Skaggs, Ph.D.UCLALos Angeles, California Characterization and Effects of Pro-Inflammatory HDL on the Proteome I Human RA and SLE Patients Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and lupus often develop cardiovascular disease at much younger ages than healthy people....
12 Sep 2012
2011-2012 Clarifying Genetic Predisposition to Lupus Jian Zhao, Ph.D.UCLALos Angeles, California The role of Complement Factor H gene polymorphisms in risk for SLE Genetic risk factors are known to be a major contributor for developing lupus. The complement system, a biochemical cascade found in blood circulation...
