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Scientists will receive an NIH grant of $8,297 to continue funding a center for lupus research
A multi-institutional team of scientists led by researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine's Gale and Ira Drukier Institute for Children's Health has received a five-year, $8,297 grant to continue funding a center for lupus research. The grant, awarded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, will allow researchers to explore the underlying mechanisms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in children with the goal of better tailoring treatment. Lupus in children is often not recognized, but in up to a quarter of those affected the disease begins...
Scientists will receive an NIH grant of $8,297 to continue funding a center for lupus research
A multi-institutional team of scientists led by researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine's Gale and Ira Drukier Institute for Children's Health has received a five-year, $8,297 grant to continue funding a center for lupus research. The grant, awarded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, will allow researchers to explore the underlying mechanisms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in children with the goal of better tailoring treatment.
Lupus in children is often not recognized, but in up to a quarter of those affected, the disease begins in childhood.
Dr. Virginia Pascual, program director, Center for Lupus Research and Drukier director of the Drukier Institute for Children’s Health at Weill Cornell Medicine
SLE, a chronic immune disease, tends to be more aggressive in children than in adults. Symptoms may include joint pain, rash, fatigue, fever, and sensitivity to light. “There is a tremendous need to understand the complexity of pediatric lupus,” said Dr. Pascual, who is also the Ronay Menschel Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Dr. Pascual and her colleagues received funding based on their previous research. They discovered that children with lupus have red blood cells, which are a rich and unusual source of nucleic acids that activate other cells to trigger inflammation. These cells, called macrophages, produce cytokines, or molecules that activate the immune system and trigger an inflammatory response. The research team wants to better understand the underlying mechanisms of this inflammatory process.
They also want to find out why up to a third of children with lupus do not respond to standard treatment, which consists of high doses of steroids and immunosuppressive drugs.
“We want to apply all the molecular techniques we have developed to study this disease to understand what is going on in these patients at the time of diagnosis and during disease flares and remissions,” said Dr. Pascual.
Researchers will compare this data with information collected from children who respond to treatment. The aim is to identify biomarkers for drug resistance and to develop new approaches to care.
Among the research colleagues of Dr. Pascual belong to Dr. Patrick Wilson, who was hired as a professor of pediatrics and member of the Drukier Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine and as a senior investigator at the Center for Lupus Research; Dr. Simone Caielli, assistant professor of immunology research in pediatrics and junior researcher at the center. Other members are Dr. Duygu Ucar, associate professor at Jackson Laboratory and deputy administrative director and co-investigator of the center; Dr. Tracey Wright, chief of the division of pediatric rheumatology at UT Southwestern Medical Center and principal investigator for the center's clinical sample core; and several pediatric rheumatologists from Nationwide Children’s Hospital who will provide patients for the study.
“I am very happy to have received this award and to work with this great group of colleagues,” said Dr. Pascual. “Together we have already generated some interesting data and hope to advance the field further.”
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