Lupus Foundation of America Fosters the Next Generation of Lupus Researchers by Awarding Gina M. Finzi Memorial Student Summer Fellowships to Fiv...( WASHINGTON June 3 -- To foster and s...),Health

WASHINGTON, June 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To foster and support the next generation of lupus researchers, the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA), Inc. has awarded summer fellowships to five young investigators who will conduct their studies under the supervision of an established lupus investigator. Named after the daughter of former LFA President Dr. Sergio Finzi, the Gina M. Finzi Memorial Student Summer Fellowship program has supported the work of approximately 200 young investigators since it was founded in 1984.

The Finzi Fellowship program seeks to cultivate an interest in a career in lupus research among young investigators by supporting basic, clinical, and psychosocial research studies. The program is part of the LFA's ongoing efforts to advance the science and medicine of lupus and bring down barriers that have impeded progress in research on the disease. In the past, medical research on lupus has not kept pace with efforts for other similar chronic and life-threatening diseases. The FDA has not approved a drug for lupus in 50 years.

The five 2009 Gina M. Finzi Fellowship recipients and their studies are:

Ian Kroll, University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)

"Accelerated Atherosclerosis and Pro-Inflammatory HDL in SLE-prone Mice"

Sean Lavine, New York University School of Medicine (New York, NY)

"Cyclooxygenase 2 and Injury in Neonatal Lupus"

Bruce Volpe, Winifred Masterson Burke Medical Research Institute (White Plains, NY)

"Putative Mechanism of NP-SLE: Toxicity of Anti-DNA Anti-NMDAR Antibody"

Maggie Bromberg, Duke University Medical Center (Durham, NC )

"Psychological and Disease Related Predictors of Sleep in Pediatric SLE"

Tarak Trivedi, The University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)

"Analysis of SLE Clinical Characteristics Usin
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