The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is separately granting two researchers $2.3 million to advance their respective lupus research. The money comes from DoD’s Congressionally Directed Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP).
I-Cheng Ho, M.D., Ph.D., associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, received $1.2 million. The work will examine a protein called Ets1 to determine if it can counteract the disease process of lupus; it is believed that the function of Ets1 may be impaired in people with lupus.
Trine Jorgensen, Ph.D., assistant staff, department of immunology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation was awarded $1.1 million. The research will study why females are disproportionately affected by lupus; nine out of ten people with lupus are reportedly female. Dr. Jorgensen’s studies will explore the role of a population of immunosuppressive cells in the development of lupus and analyze related mechanisms of disease suppression as it may occur in males.
To date, $11.8 million has reportedly been awarded to lupus researchers through the PRMRP. Due to the changing demographics of the military population, there is an ever-increasing prevalence of lupus in military.