Questcor fellowship program funds rheumatology research

Questcor Pharmaceuticals has announced $500,000 in funding to independent researchers at 10 institutions to study rheumatology, neurology and nephrology.

The newly established Questcor Research Fellowship Program awards $50,000 grants to clinical and basic scientists and includes projects in rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, according to a press release. An independent panel unaffiliated with Questcor reviewed and selected the winning grants.

“Our hope is that the research we fund will ultimately help advance the translation of biomedical science into treatments, preventions and even cures for human autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,” Steve Cartt, Questcor chief operating officer, said in the release.

Institutions whose researchers are grant recipients for 2014 include Hektoen Institute for Medical Research; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; The Ohio State University Office of Sponsored Programs; the Regents of the University of California, San Francisco; Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Yale University; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Washington University; University of California, Los Angeles; and Rush University Medical Center.

The grants fund one academic year and may be renewable for a second year, the release said.

“Research will be conducted at eligible academic institutions and will address essential scientific questions related to conditions such as multiple sclerosis, infantile spasms, glomerular diseases and related disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriatic arthritis, dermatomyositis, polymyositis and ankylosing spondylitis,” Gary S. Hogge, DVM, MS, PhD, vice president of medical affairs at Questcor, said in the release.