Lupus Foundation of America announces recipients of annual awards

The Lupus Foundation of America has announced the names of the winners of its 2015 Gina M. Finzi Memorial Student Summer Fellowships and the third annual Career Development Award.

The awards come at a time when government funding has been reduced, according to a press release from the foundation.

“Now, more than ever, it is essential that young, energetic investigators receive funding for vital lupus research,” Amr H. Sawalha, MD, research subcommittee chair of the foundation’s Medical-Scientific Advisory Council, said in the release. “Their research has the potential to be the key to helping us solve the cruel mystery of lupus. Without the support of the Lupus Foundation of America, fostering tomorrow’s leaders in lupus research may not occur.”

Six young scientists have been selected though a peer review process to receive Gina M. Finzi Memorial Student Summer Fellowships: Melissa Bates, Michael Brown, Jennie Ann Hamilton, Jillian Jaycox and Christina Poa. Research topics include the examination of potential biomarkers in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), possible benefits from clearance of apoptotic cells, development of a patient-based tool to classify SLE patients, mediators and risks in neonatal lupus, and research into B cell resistance. The six individuals join the more than 200 Finzi Student Fellows who have received support from the foundation since the establishment of the program, according to the release.

The Career Development Award has been granted to Tamar Rubenstein, MD, a fellow in pediatric rheumatology at the Albert Einstein Yeshiva College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Children’s Hospital. Mentored by Chaim Putterman, MD, her work will focus on mood disorders and cognitive issues in children with SLE and the investigation of a potential biomarker as a screening tool for neuropsychiatric disease manifestations.

Reference : www.lupus.org.