April 12, 2019

We are pleased to share that 12 new research grants were just awarded by the Lupus Research Program (LRP) within the Department of Defense! The $5 million allocated by Congress will continue to support promising research to help improve lupus treatment. The response from researchers to this grant opportunity was tremendous — nearly 100 proposals were received.

Largely due to the hard work of advocates led by the Lupus Research Alliance and others, the dedicated Lupus Research Program was first established in 2017 under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs operated by the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command in Ft. Detrick, MD. The program was created to support innovative and impactful research that addresses significant issues and gaps in lupus. The Program is particularly important for the Department of Defense with the number of women in our armed forces at its highest in U.S. history.

We congratulate all the researchers who were selected for this highly competitive grant; five scientists whose names are in bold have also received grants from the Lupus Research Alliance to pursue research in lupus. In addition, seven of the 12 institutions where studies funded by Lupus Research Program research will take place are a part of the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN). Administered by our affiliate Lupus Therapeutics, this network of 57 academic centers across North America aims to accelerate the clinical trial process so more treatments can be tested and approved for lupus.

FY18 Concept Award

FY18 Impact Award

We are also proud of the three Consumer Reviewers who were chosen based on recommendations by our President and CEO Kenneth M. Farber. Consumer Reviewers participate in the process of selecting the grant recipients, bringing the patient perspective to the review process.

To date, $15 million has been appropriated to the program over three years.  The Fiscal Year 2017 grants are underway, Fiscal Year 2018 grants were just awarded, and a pre-announcement just went out to the research community alerting them to the opportunity to apply for grants in Fiscal Year 2019.

We are very grateful to Congress for appropriating the funding to create and maintain the Lupus Research Program.  To allow more grants to be awarded in the future, our advocates have requested that Congress double its investment to provide $10 million for the Lupus Research Program in the FY 2020 Defense Appropriations Bill.