Six Investigators Receive Scleroderma Foundation Grants in 2009
It is our pleasure to announce that the Scleroderma Foundation has awarded approximately $1 million in research grants for 2009. After careful examination of over 31 proposals, the Foundation's Peer Review Committee selected six top-scoring grant proposals for funding.
The breakdown of grant recipients includes one new investigator and five established researchers. The annual Marta Marx and Mark Flapan awards were also distributed to two of the highest scoring applicants: Frank Lee, M.D. of the University of Pittsburgh and Elizabeth P. Blankenhorn, Ph.D. of Drexel University College of Medicine, in Philadelphia, Pa. The Marta Marx Eradication of Scleroderma Award is funded by bequests from both Marta Marx, who had scleroderma, and her brother Rudolph Juhl. The Mark Flapan Award is named for the late psychologist and scleroderma patient whose contributions to the Foundation’s publications and literature paved the way for greater patient understanding of the disease.
Due to the generosity of the Scleroderma Foundation New England Chapter, a new award was established this year. The award named, Norma Nadeau/Mary Van Neste New England Chapter Research Grant, was given to Giuseppina Farina, M.D., Ph.D. of Boston University.
The Scleroderma Foundation and its predecessor organizations have funded a total of 186 grants totaling more than $14.7 million since 1989.
The Foundation thanks the many researchers, M.D.s,
Ph.D.s, and scientists who have made it possible
for the Foundation to evaluate and distribute research
grant funds to merit-worthy proposals. Special
thanks goes out to Dr. Robert Lafyatis of Boston University
Medical Center who is our new Peer Review Committee
Chair. Dr. Lafyatis is Associate Professor of Medicine
and Laboratory Director. Over the past 21 years the
Foundation's Peer Review Committee has adhered to high
standards of academic and professional evaluation modeled
after the National Institutes of Health.
Gratitude and appreciation is also extended to the many supporters of the Scleroderma Foundation's mission to help those living with scleroderma. The Scleroderma Foundation remains the leading nonprofit organization funding peer-reviewed medical research to find the cause of and cure for scleroderma, thanks to so many of you who continue to donate and support the Foundation!
2009 Research Grant Recipients
Marta Marx Eradication of
Scleroderma Award Recipient
Frank Lee, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
"Hypoxic Control of the Extracellular Matrix"
Mark Flapan Award
Elizabeth P. Blankenhorn, Ph.D.
Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa.
"Genes That Regulate the Scleroderma Trait in Mice"
Norma Nadeau/Mary Van Neste New England Chapter Research Grant
Giuseppina Farina, M.D., Ph.D.
Boston Univ. School of Medicine, Boston, Ma.
"Interferon Signature in Scleroderma Skin and TLR on Fibroblasts"
Carol Artlett, Ph.D.
Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa.
"Role of the Inflammasome in Early Systemic Sclerosis Lesions"
Edwin Chan, M.D.
New York University School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.
"Purinergic Modulation of Dermal Fibrosis"
Karen Lyons, Ph.D.
Orthopaedic Hospital Research Center at UCLA
"Role of CTGF in Vascular Remodeling in Scleroderma"
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